PoliticsMegyn Kelly Says She’s 'Done' Using the 'Made-Up' Term 'Trans': 'We’ve Been Engaging in This Fiction for Too Long'
Megyn Kelly declared she no longer thinks trans people are 'a thing.'
Sept. 9 2026, Published 5:57 p.m. ET
Megyn Kelly doesn't believe transgenderism exists.
"By the way, I want to say I'm done using the word 'trans!'" she declared on the Tuesday, September 8, edition of "The Megyn Kelly Show."
Megyn Kelly made her declaration while discussing 'trans mass shooters.'
Kelly, 55, was having a conversation with conservative commentator Victor Davis Hanson about transgender mass shooters when she announced her decision.
(The overwhelming majority of mass shooters have been cis men, per FactCheck.org. Less than 0.1 percent of mass shootings have transgender perpetrators.)
"I will say someone is gender-confused, sometimes they genuinely are, sometimes they’re faking it, but there’s no such thing as trans," she declared. "That’s not a thing. You can’t transition your gender. We’ve been engaging in this fiction for too long."
Megyn Kelly Says Using 'Trans' Is 'Playing Their Game'
The podcaster said 'trans' is a 'made-up word.'
Kelly argued that the world was "playing their game" by acknowledging the existence of trans people.
"We’ve been playing their game by using that word," she said. "That’s a made-up word to describe something that is a mental illness for which people deserve compassion and empathy and support, not to transition themselves, but to get comfortable with their own natural God-given body."
“But I think the proper term is just that person’s 'gender confused,'" she continued. "It’s a man who’s gender confused. That’s it. There’s no more trans. I’m not using that word anymore. It’s made up.”
The American Psychological Association notes that "trans" is "an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the s-- to which they were assigned at birth."
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Megyn Kelly Used to Be More Open to Trans People
Megyn Kelly appeared much more open to trans people when she worked for NBC.
Kelly's attitudes towards trans people have shifted over the past decade. When she was with NBC from 2017-2019, she was much more open to the trans community, even running multiple segments discussing the struggles of trans youth.
In a 2018 clip, she spoke with trans teens, sharing, “Well, the people on stage with me are all transgender kids who want others to know it is possible to transition socially with love and support and acceptance within a family and a community.”
In 2016, when she was with Fox News, she repeatedly corrected Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick when he referred to trans women as "men."
She Has Since Peddled Anti-Trans Views on Her Show
Megyn Kelly now regularly shares anti-trans views on her show.
As she's gone independent, she has been much more open to peddling hate toward the trans community. Recently, she went off on HBO's The Pitt for having a transgender character.
She's also joined the conservative media ecosystem in criticizing the concept of trans women playing in women's sports leagues — though such a phenomenon is exceedingly rare.
