On MSNBC, Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary, emphasized that Democrats ought to maintain their support for transgender rights, even in light of their recent electoral setbacks.
She criticized the narrative pushed by Republicans regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports, labeling it as “right-wing propaganda” and emphasizing that the issue is exaggerated and affects very few individuals.
Psaki highlighted that instances of transgender girls competing in sports are extremely rare and that the concerns raised are often based on misinformation.
She urged Democrats to reflect on their strategies without succumbing to unfounded fears and to remain aligned with factual information.
Psaki said, “Look, reflection is good, but if that were actually an issue at thousands of schools across the country, it would be worthy of a debate. But there are just incredibly few examples of transgender girls playing in youth sports. And when we see those examples, there isn’t evidence that these kids are a threat to safety or fairness. When I say few examples, I mean that if you were to count the examples of transgender girls playing youth sports in any single state, the number often rounds to zero.”
“Take Utah. When a transgender athlete ban was passed there in 2022, there was a grand total of one, one transgender girl playing in youth sports. When South Dakota passed the ban, only one transgender girl had competed in high school sports since 2013. In fact, when these bans were making their way through Republican state houses in 2021, legislators in more than 20 states could not say a single instance in their own state or region where a transgender athlete competing was a problem.”
Donald Trump said, “It’s amazing how strongly people feel about that. You see I’m talking about cutting taxes, people go like that, talking about — talk about transgender. Everyone goes crazy. Who would have thought? Five years ago, you didn’t know what the hell it was.”
Psaki said, “See, Donald Trump and Republicans have managed to amplify their bad faith attacks to the point that people do have concerns as misguided and misinformed as those concerns may be.”
