Two blue state House Democrats slam party's stance on transgender athletes after Harris' defeat

Two blue-state Democrats are distancing themselves from the progressive wing of their party in the wake of Vice President Kamala Harris' defeat in the 2024 presidential election, saying their party's support for transgender athletes in girls' sports was one issue that hurt Democrats.

"The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left," Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., told The New York Times in a report published Thursday. "I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports."

"Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be," Suozzi added. 

The congressman narrowly held onto his Queens and Nassau swing seat in Tuesday's election, the Times noted.

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Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton also criticized his party's stance on the transgender athlete issue as out-of-touch with most Americans.

"Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face," Moulton said in The New York Times report. "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." 

Nearly 70 percent of Americans don't believe that biological men should be allowed to compete in women's sports, according to a Gallup poll taken last year.

Progressive lawmaker Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also came out swinging against the Democratic Party after Harris' defeat, saying its embrace of "identity politics" created a working class voter exodus.

"It’s not just Kamala," he said in the Times report. "It’s a Democratic Party which increasingly has become a party of identity politics, rather than understanding that the vast majority of people in this country are working class. This trend of workers leaving the Democratic Party started with Whites, and it has accelerated to Latinos and Blacks."

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On Tuesday, President-elect Trump soared to victory after winning key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, and Michigan. He built on his 2020 coalition, making gains with Black and Latino voters and flipping several Democratic strongholds across the nation.

Republican candidates across the country also enjoyed big wins on Election Night, with the GOP taking the Senate and coming within striking distance of taking the House, while many key races remain too close to call.