{"id":2367456,"date":"2024-11-11T18:33:02","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T23:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/first-transgender-house-member-rejects-blame-of-culture-wars-for-trump-sweep-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-11-11T18:34:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T23:34:48","slug":"first-transgender-house-member-rejects-blame-of-culture-wars-for-trump-sweep-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/first-transgender-house-member-rejects-blame-of-culture-wars-for-trump-sweep-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"First transgender House member rejects blame of \u2018culture wars\u2019 for Trump sweep &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffirst-transgender-house-member-rejects-blame-of-culture-wars-for-trump-sweep-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2367456&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The \u200carticle discusses the\u2063 fallout from the 2024 elections, particularly within the Democratic Party,\u200d following\u2062 significant losses \u2063attributed to the influence of &#8220;culture wars&#8221; and \u200dthe \u200bcampaign strategies of Republicans, notably Donald\u200b Trump. Progressives, including newly elected Rep. Sarah\u200d McBride, who\u200b made\u2063 history as the first transgender member of Congress, counter that the focus\u2063 on cultural issues\u2062 was primarily a Republican tactic \u200daimed at division,\u2063 rather than a failing of the Democratic platform. <\/p>\n<p>Leaders such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Seth \u200dMoulton offer different perspectives\u200c on the losses; Sanders insists the party needs to reconnect with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-signals-support-for-amazon-workers-vote-to-unionize\/\" title=\"Biden Signals Support For Amazon Workers\u2019 Vote To Unionize\">working-class voters<\/a>, while \u200dMoulton believes Democrats are out of \u200ctouch. McBride emphasizes a need for reflection within\u2063 the party, suggesting Democrats should\u2064 reassess their strategies and focus more on unifying issues rather than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-eric-swalwell-falls-for-failed-virginia-tiki-torch-hoax\/\" title=\"Rep. Eric Swalwell Falls for Failed Virginia Tiki Torch Hoax\u00a0\">divisive culture wars<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal acknowledges the disappointing results but asserts the \u2062need for the Progressive Caucus to regroup and address voter concerns moving forward. \u200cAlongside\u2064 Whip Greg \u2062Casar, she emphasizes the importance of showing that the Democratic\u2063 Party stands \u2063firmly for civil rights and \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">economic issues affecting\u200b working-class\u200d citizens<\/a>. Although there\u2064 are still unresolved races, the article indicates that Republican control of the House \u2062is likely, setting the stage for ongoing \u200dpolitical contention.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">First transgender House member rejects blame of &lsquo;culture wars&rsquo; for Trump sweep<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1879151\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/progressives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Progressives<\/a> are pushing back against claims from fellow <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Democrats<\/a> that the party saw losses up and down the ballot as a result of leaning too far into &ldquo;culture wars.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>With a looming Republican trifecta on the horizon, some Democrats have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3222466\/progressives-bidenworld-clash-over-harris-loss\/\">resorted to a blame game<\/a> while others are taking time after the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">2024 election<\/a> to reflect on what went wrong and how they can appeal to voters in the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), argued the losses stemmed from the Democratic Party &ldquo;abandoning&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/black-lives-matters-most-prominent-chapter-launches-drive-targeting-police-unions\/\" title=\"Black Lives Matter\u2019s Most Prominent Chapter Launches Drive Targeting Police Unions\">working-class people<\/a>. Others, like Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), said Democrats are out of touch because they are &ldquo;more concerned about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonherald.com\/2024\/11\/11\/massachusetts-democrat-seth-moulton-after-his-trans-comments-says-dems-are-not-listening-just-shutting-down-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">offending people<\/a>&rdquo; than talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/frequent-flyer-desantis-stumps-hard-for-republicans-ahead-of-midterms\/\" title=\"Frequent Flyer: DeSantis Stumps Hard For Republicans Ahead Of Midterms\">important policy issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump and his allies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/elections\/trump-ads-transgender-rights-harris-election-b287c9d8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"spent\">spent<\/a> $123 million on a wave of TV ads referencing transgender issues, including biological males playing in girls sports, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.&nbsp;The final message in the homestretch of the campaign was Vice President Kamala Harris was too radical with her past support for taxpayer-funded surgery for transgender inmates with the tagline &ldquo;Kamala&rsquo;s For They\/Them. President Trump is for you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When asked how progressives should respond to culture war blowback, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE) said Democrats across the board should be taking a moment to reflect.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is a moment for soul searching, and there should be humility across the Democratic Party, regardless of where you fall ideologically, regardless of what your priors are, I think we should take a beat,&rdquo; McBride said during a press conference announcing the newest Progressive Caucus members on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s be clear: The party that was focused on culture wars, the party that was focused on trans people, was the Republican Party,&rdquo; McBride added. &ldquo;It was Donald Trump. It was the $100 million, $200 million that they spent on television ads.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE). (Graeme Jennings \/ Washington Examiner) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>McBride, who made history as the first transgender member of Congress after Election Day, didn&rsquo;t run explicitly on identity but said it was not a secret.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think what we have to all recognize here is that when a politician tries to take an issue that impacts a handful of people in a handful of states and turn it into the most important issue in an election, everyone has to ask why?&rdquo; McBride said. &ldquo;And the answer to that question is that Donald Trump was trying to divide and distract from the fact that he has absolutely no policy solutions for the issues that are actually keeping voters up at night, the issues that I was hearing about on the campaign trail.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>McBride joined Reps.-elect Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), and Lateefah Simon (D-CA) outside the Capitol to be welcomed as new members of the Progressive Caucus by Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Whip Greg Casar (D-TX).<\/p>\n<p>Jayapal led the press conference acknowledging that the outcome of the 2024 election was disappointing for many, with Trump poised for a second term, Republicans flipping the Senate, and the GOP on track to maintain a razor-thin House majority.<\/p>\n<p>But, Jayapal said, the losses will help the caucus &ldquo;recalibrate&rdquo; and &ldquo;rebuild,&rdquo; adding that the addition of new Democrats is evidence that &ldquo;progressive power, despite everything that we are dealing with, is still growing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>With exit polling showing a dramatic drop in Democratic voter turnout compared to 2020, Jayapal said she is &ldquo;not interested in blame&rdquo; but thinks the Democratic Party does need to rebuild and address why people chose to vote down the ballot and neglect the presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a level of anger that I think that this election really brought out,&rdquo; the chairwoman said. &ldquo;And as much as it was wonderful for many of us to think about joy and love and beautiful things that we in the Progressive Caucus really love to think about, as well, the reality is, we also have to channel a lot of the anger that&rsquo;s out there about the fact that people don&rsquo;t have a fair shot anymore.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Casar blamed the &ldquo;right-wing propaganda machine&rdquo; for losses, arguing the Democratic Party needs to &ldquo;very clearly&rdquo; show it is the party of working-class people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We should not abandon being the party of civil rights. We should be standing up for the rights of every single person as Rep.-elect McBride just laid out, but that&rsquo;s what people need to hear from us first,&rdquo; Casar said during the conference of where Democrats need to go from here.<\/p>\n<p>Casar later told reporters that Democrats need to &ldquo;break through the noise&rdquo; and be willing to take risks.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What Republicans did was they tried to speak to people&rsquo;s economic anxieties and then they blamed the vulnerable for it,&rdquo; Casar said. &ldquo;What Democrats need to do is speak to people&rsquo;s economic anxieties and then blame the real villains for it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>With several races still too close to call, control of the House remains in play but leaning toward Republicans. However, with rumors and confirmations that some House GOP lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3225690\/stefanik-un-nomination-scramble-no-4-leadership-post\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">may transition to Trump&rsquo;s Cabinet<\/a>, and with some key flips by Democrats in New York, the House Republican majority will likely be as small or smaller than the one it currently holds.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the 118th Congress centered on GOP infighting, whether with government spending, foreign aid, or ousting speakers. Even some Republicans, famously Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), would bash their fellow conservatives that the level of unproductivity in the House left them with very little to campaign on in their districts.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Congressional Progressive Caucus Whip  Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) and Chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) hold a news conference to introduce newly elected members of the CPC for the 119th Congress on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Graeme Jennings \/ Washington Examiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Democrats helped bail out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on more than one occasion this term, including various continuing resolutions and foreign aid supplementals to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. But, that might be the last of support Republicans see for a while should there be an official GOP trifecta.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We had this situation where we had Democrats in the minority in the House who felt it incumbent upon us &mdash; we can debate whether or not that was the right thing or not &mdash; to fix Republicans lack of being able to govern, instead of letting it show through that they couldn&rsquo;t govern time after time after time,&rdquo; Jayapal said, adding that Democrats did so thanks to a blue White House and Senate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that in this Congress, with a Republican trifecta, that you&rsquo;re going to see that same desire. &hellip; Voters voted for them. Let&rsquo;s see what they do,&rdquo; the Progressive Caucus chairwoman continued.<\/p>\n<p>McBride said to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that being a new member of the House comes with &ldquo;a great degree of humility&rdquo; and that it would be &ldquo;premature&rdquo; to strategize on finding bipartisanship and helping Republicans push legislation over the finish line.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1879151\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1879151\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First transgender House member disputes &#8216;culture wars&#8217; blame for Trump wins. Progressives counter claims from Democrats that losses were due to focusing too much on &#8220;culture wars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2367457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/111124_HOUSE_PROGRESSIVES-38-1024x682.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[35301,32304,5894,4019,3634],"class_list":["post-2367456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-culture-wars","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-politics","tag-transgender","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/111124_HOUSE_PROGRESSIVES-38-1024x682.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2367456"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2367460,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367456\/revisions\/2367460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2367457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2367456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2367456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}