The finger-pointing within the Democratic Party over the presidential election hit a fever pitch in Massachusetts Friday after US Representative Seth Moulton drew a fierce backlash when he appeared to blame identity politics by criticizing the party’s support for transgender rights.
In a story in The New York Times on Thursday, the Salem Democrat said identity politics hurt the party, and suggested it should focus more intensely on other matters facing voters.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Moulton told the newspaper. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them 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.”
The comments drew the ire of fellow Democrats in Massachusetts and denunciations from the state’s LGBTQ+ community. On Friday, Moulton’s top campaign aide stepped down, though declined to say why.
In Moulton’s hometown of Salem, Mayor Dominick Pangallo and the School Committee issued a joint email to the city’s residents, saying Moulton’s comments “do not reflect our values.”
“We want to reassure our LGBTQ+ students that we as district leaders will always celebrate your identities, support your dreams and aspirations, and applaud your accomplishments,” the email said.
Matt Chilliak, Moulton’s campaign manager and director of his “Serve America” political committee, confirmed to the Globe that he resigned but did not address if it was related to the comments and directed further questions to Moulton’s office.
Moulton, who briefly sought the party’s presidential nomination in 2020, said in a statement Friday evening that while he supports the rights of transgender people, he stands “firmly in my belief” for limits on transgender participation in competitive women’s sports.
“These two ideas are not mutually exclusive, and we can even disagree on them. Yet there are many who, shouting from the extreme left corners of social media, believe I have failed the unspoken Democratic Party purity test,” he said. “We did not lose the 2024 election because of any trans person or issue. We lost, in part, because we shame and belittle too many opinions held by too many voters, and that needs to stop.”
Moulton’s comments came as Democrats around the country try to understand where their nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the party writ large went wrong this election cycle.
After Donald Trump’s victory on Tuesday, Democrats took turns pointing fingers. Harris allies blamed President Biden for staying in the race too long before dropping out, spoke about misinformation, and some, like Moulton, blamed the emphasis on identity politics at the expense of the economy and immigration, issues that working-class voters often named as their top concerns.
Transgender rights, including whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, has long been a hot-button issue. Locally, a new state law in New Hampshire that bars transgender girls from girls’ sports in middle schools and high schools prompted a lawsuit from a transgender girl’s family.
In the late days of the campaign, Republicans spent heavily on ads attacking transgender rights and Harris for her previous statements supporting gender-affirming care for prison inmates.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party said Moulton’s comments “do not represent the broad view of our party.” Chairman Steve Kerrigan said the party is “proud to stand with the LGTBQ+ community, especially our transgender friends, neighbors, and loved ones across the Commonwealth.”
The state Republican Party, however, applauded Moulton on Friday.
“The backlash against Congressman Moulton for making this statement is one reason why Democrats suffered significant losses across the country this election cycle,” party Chair Amy Carnevale said. “Republicans agree that it’s entirely possible to respect gender preferences while also acknowledging that the physical differences between men and women create distinct risks in sports.”
Massachusetts state Representative Manny Cruz, a Salem Democrat and member of the city’s School Committee, said he agrees Democrats must do some soul-searching, but “they should be looking no further than themselves.”
“To hear my congressman talk about identity politics as the reason we lost the election is so off base,” he said. “He has two ears and one mouth, and he needs to use them with that proportion.”
While Moulton is not the only Democrat to call for a reckoning following election losses — Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, called out identity politics when he said Wednesday that the party “abandoned working-class people” — some felt Moulton’s comments were mean-spirited and unnecessary.
The comments drew strong rebukes from the LGTBQ+ community in Massachusetts, who have been outspoken in recent days after Trump, who’d made attacking transgender Americans central to his campaign, won a second term in the White House on Tuesday.
The LGTBQ advocacy group Mass Equality said Moulton’s remarks were “both harmful and factually inaccurate.”
“Our community is deeply hurt by these remarks, which reinforce harmful stereotypes and undermine the dignity of transgender athletes,” Mass Equality executive director Tanya Neslusan said.
State Representative John Moran, an openly gay Democrat from the South End, posted on X Friday, calling Moulton “weak.” And, on Friday afternoon, about a dozen people came to Moulton’s district office in Salem to protest his remarks, though the office was closed for the Veterans Day holiday, which is on Monday.
Aria Stewart, who identifies as a transgender woman, organized the last-minute protest “to send Moulton a message that he is alienating people” and accused Moulton of using “a well-known dog whistle” in his remarks about transgender males playing women’s sports.
Kyle Davis, a Salem city councilor who attended the protest, also questioned the timing of the remarks, just days after the election.
“With all the things Trump has said about trans people, this is a time when the trans community is feeling a lot of fear,” he said.
Billy Baker of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.