Charlie Kirk suspended from Twitter, refuses to delete tweet on transgender Biden appointee

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk will not delete his tweet reaffirming biological gender that resulted in his ban from Twitter, the conservative influencer told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Tuesday.

Kirk's post criticized Rachel Levine, President Joe Biden's Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary who identifies as a transgender woman. Twitter labeled the post as "hateful content" and banned him from the platform until he deletes the March 15 post.

"It's basically a hostage situation," Kirk told Editor-in-Chief John Solomon and co-host Amanda Head.

"We're not going to delete it. I refuse to bend the knee to Twitter," said Kirk, who has 1.7 million followers on the platform.

Kirk's controversial tweet criticized how Levine was dubbed "one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year."

"Richard Levine spent 54 years of his life as a man," Kirk wrote. "He had a wife and family. He 'transitioned' to being a woman in 2011, Joe Biden appointed Levine to be a 4-Star Admiral, and now USA Today has named 'Rachel' Levine as a 'Woman of the Year[.]' Where are the feminists??"

"There's nothing in here that is inaccurate. There's nothing in here that is harassing," Kirk said.

The Turning Point USA founder said he might have deleted the tweet a few years ago, but he has changed his mind since.

"Twitter's not as important as [it] used to be," he said. "Not to say Twitter has no importance, but it's nowhere near the communication tool it used to be."

Kirk added that on Truth Social, which the Trump Media & Technology Group launched in February, his posts have far more interaction than on Twitter.

Twitter also suspended the The Babylon Bee's account on Monday after the conservative parody website named Levine its "man of the year."