‘An Offensive Comment’: Jayapal Lashes Out Over Fellow Democrat’s Anti-trans Rhetoric
‘An Offensive Comment’: Jayapal Lashes Out Over Fellow Democrat’s Anti-trans Rhetoric
Progressive laments Republican culture war
A prominent progressive congresswoman and mother of a transgender daughter is condemning comments made by a fellow Democrat after Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of anti-trans ads during the presidential campaign.
Rep Pramila Jayapal, of Washington State, condemned remarks made by another Democratic member of Congress, Rep Seth Moulton, of Massachusetts.
Moulton seemed to lament Democrats embracing trans rights after Vice President Kamala Harris loss of the presidency.
Harris was hit by more than $20 million in advertising — much during recent televised football games — taking an anti-trans tone.
Moulton, and some other Democrats, have made comments in the press since the election which have been critical of the Democratic Party’s defense of transgender rights.
Specifically, he told the New York Times that he doesn’t want his daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Jayapal was asked about those comments in an interview with CNN host Kaitlan Collins, and she torched her colleague.
“I just find that to be an offensive comment, actually. We’re talking about half of 1 percent of people in the country. And I think that we have to really be clear,” said Jayapal, whose daughter is publicly transgender. “There was one party that tried to initiate a culture war, a so-called culture war, against a tiny group of people. That was the Republican Party that poured billions of dollars into this.
“I go back to the fact that we can have an economic agenda that allows people to feel good and safe about their lives, and that is inclusive, so that everybody gets to live their life out,” she added. “I don’t think that just trying to instill fear and joining a party that is instilling fear in people for a tiny, tiny group of population — group of people that we’re talking about — is the right way to go about this.”
The focus should be on an economic agenda, Jayapal said.
“Let’s go back to our business. Let’s get that economic agenda, which we actually know what it is. We’ve had a proposition agenda at the [Congressional Progressive Caucus] for some time, and it includes all of these things, including taking on these big corporate monopolies, taking on price gouging, investing in housing,” she said. “These are critical things that will lift people up, in addition, of course, to minimum wage, paid sick leave, the things that passed on the ballot in Trump states. We can get those done.
“But we need people to trust us, and we need to actually fight for them, and be willing to unrig the system. Because it is rigged right now, for the billionaires and the wealthiest individuals and corporations. We’ve got to take that on and be willing to do it loudly and proudly.”
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