Mario Lopez, the Saved By the Bell alum who is now an entertainment news host, got dragged on Twitter this week after video of his appearance on the Candace Owens Show went viral.
The show is dedicated to promoting a right-wing view of the world. However, even though Lopez has described himself as a “conservative guy by nature”, he has also steered clear of being too open about his politics because “I also don’t want to alienate any viewer. I’m in the TV business and I don’t want to give them a reason to not watch me!”
Well, he didn't take his own advice and weighed in on trans kids.
Trump-loving Owens started the conversation by slamming celebrities like Charlize Theron for “picking their [child's] gender.”
"I'm kind of blown away, too," Lopez agreed. "I'm never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids obviously and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can't go wrong. But at the same time, if you're 3-years-old and you're saying you're feeling a certain way or you think you're a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be, I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make this determination.”
“It's sort of alarming. I just think about the repercussions later on,” he added. "When you're a kid you don't know anything about sexuality yet. You're just a kid.” (Sexuality and gender identity are, of course, two very different things.)
Although he did support online from some people, others were not impressed.
Human Rights Campaign tweeted: "Mario Lopez’s comments are dangerous to the safety and well-being of LGBTQ youth, especially trans children who deserve to be loved and accepted for who they are."
"I’m disappointed to read [Mario Lopez'] comments about parent’s who support their child’s openness about their gender identity,"
Queer Eye's
Karamo Brown said. "As a social worker I am trained to identify abuse or neglect of a child. Healthy & safe dialogue [with] kids is neither abusive, neglectful or 'dangerous'."
Following the outcry, Lopez -- who recently left Extra to host Access Hollywood -- has apologized.
“The comments I made were ignorant and insensitive, and I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were,” Lopez said in a statement. “I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself. Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful."
Sometimes it's best to just show off those dimples and let the teleprompter do the rest.