Transgender issues hurt Democrats in election, candidates tell Chuck Schumer: report
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reportedly met last week in closed-door meetings with Democratic candidates who blamed the party's losses in part on effective GOP ads that took advantage of the swell of voter antipathy toward transgender ideology.
Transgender issues played a pivotal role in Democratic electoral losses in 2024, especially in key Senate races that saw Democrats lose both Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, which left them without a senator in a red state, according to Axios.
Montana and Ohio are among the states that have banned men from women's sports.
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"Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you," announced the popular ad from Trump's campaign that aired most frequently and was most effective, according to internal Democratic testing reviewed by The New York Times.
The ad, which the GOP spent more than $77 million to air in key Senate race areas, also highlighted Harris' past public support for taxpayer-funded sex-change operations for illegal immigrant prisoners in California.
The ad also featured footage of prominent trans-identifying members of the Biden administration, including Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel (Richard) Levine and former senior Department of Energy official Sam Brinton, who was accused of stealing women's luggage and wearing their clothing.
Kamala is for they/them.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 20, 2024
President Trump is for you. pic.twitter.com/Yk1KBgMH4f
Harris' views were out of step with those of the average American, according to polling. A June 2023 Gallup poll found that 69% of Americans agreed that sports teams should be segregated based on sex.
The Harris campaign's emphasis on cultural issues such as transgenderism hurt her among key swing voters, according to a study conducted by public opinion research firm Blueprint.
Following inflation and illegal immigration, the third most-popular reason voters gave for not supporting Harris was that she "was too focused on cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class," according to the study.
The postmortem meeting among the Democrats came days before trans issues bubbled up on Capitol Hill this week amid the election of Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who will be the first trans-identifying member of Congress.
McBride's election prompted Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., to file a resolution Monday that would ban men from women's restrooms and private spaces in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill prompted backlash from McBride and others who suggested Mace's move was a personal attack against the incoming freshman representative.
"Yes and absolutely, and then some," Mace said regarding whether she filed the bill because of McBride. "I’m absolutely 100 percent going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women’s restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way."
McBride condemned the bill as "a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing."
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., threw her support behind Mace's bill, telling reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that it "doesn't go far enough."
"Men need to respect our spaces," Greene said. "That's what this election was about. This was a mandate from the American people that are not only fed up with the open borders; they're fed up with inflation, they're fed up with the economy, but they're fed up with the Left shoving their sick trans ideology down our throats and invading our spaces and our women's sports."
Greene added that "the American people spoke at the election" and "they're sick of this s---."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
