Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine is taking heat for a response about why children should not wait to transition until they are older.

During an interview with ABC News’ “Nightline,” Levine was asked by journalist Juju Chang, “What would you say to folks who think they’re reasonable by saying, ‘Why can’t children just wait till they’re 18?'”

“Adolescence is hard and puberty is hard. What if you’re going through the wrong puberty? What if you inside feel that you are female but now you are going through a male puberty,” the health official responded.

Chang countered, “The argument is well, they’re too young to know.”

However, Levine responded by pointing there are “no medical procedures done” for pre-pubertal children.

Watch the video below:

Levine, who is the top-ranking openly Transgender official in the federal government, was blasted for the exchange.

Nicki Neily, the president of Parents Defending Education, tweeted, “Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Levine — who transitioned *as an adult* — dismisses the question of why children can’t wait until they turn 18 to pursue sex change surgeries: ‘Adolescence is hard and puberty is hard. What if you’re going through the wrong puberty?'”

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“This is the ‘expert’ parents are supposed to trust?” she asked.

The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh tweeted, “Yes, what if you’re going through the wrong puberty? Also, what if you have the wrong liver or the wrong left kneecap? What if you have the wrong eye color? What if you have the wrong DNA? These and many other questions make sense if you’re a delusional schizophrenic.”

“What if you’re a mentally ill person given extraordinary power to say insane things,” wrote conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote, “He has no business pushing these dangerous procedures—that have no basis in science—on kids.”

Townhall’s Guy Benson tweeted, “‘The wrong puberty’?”

Levine has previously received criticism for calling for laws to “support and empower” young people seeking “gender affirmation treatment.”