One Piece scene goes viral after Trump’s transgender debate claims

Anthony McGlynn
Luffy and Emporio Ivankov in One Piece

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have had their first presidential debate, and one comment from the former has caused an incredible One Piece scene to resurface.

During last night’s debate, the former president claimed that Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

Such a leftfield comment swiftly started traveling around social media, prompting fans of One Piece to bring up a classic from the anime show. One of the characters, Emporio Ivankov, has the ability to make people change genders through their hormones thanks to the Horu Horu no Mi Devil Fruit.

This results, in Episode 442 as part of the Impel Down Arc, in an incredible male-to-female transition. Luffy and Ivankov are trying to find Ace’s prison cell, and they’re faced by a guard.

Ivankov deploys their powers, and the prison warden is transformed into a woman. Her response is actually heartwarming, since she states after: “Oh, fabulous! Thank you very much, Ivan-sama! I found my true identity!”

Eiichiro knows the power of gender-affirming care. Luffy is surprised when he sees the ability with his own two eyes, but isn’t pushed otherwise.

This has been reshared with the caption, “The ‘transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison’ in question.” Both poking at Trump’s words and pointing out that everyone deserves proper healthcare.

The moment has since been making its way around online, both because of the former US president’s comment (which has inspired lots of other memes) and the beguiling nature of the clip. The episode premiered in March 2010, so it’s relatively old by franchise standards.

Luckily, you can easily catch up since it’s on Crunchyroll. Check out our guide to The One Piece for everything happening on the Netflix remake and our look at Chapter 1126 for what’s going on in the manga.