HBO late-night host Bill Maher has been one of the harshest internal critics of the Democratic party since Vice President Harris’ landslide election loss to Donald Trump. In his latest episode, Maher took aim at those in his party who are still looking to defend trans inclusion in women’s sports.
“Stop screaming at people to get with the program and instead make a program worth getting with,” Maher lectured. “What good is liberalism if you don’t win elections?”
Maher brought up a recent situation in Massachusetts, where Rep. Seth Moulton has received fierce backlash by those in his own party for speaking out against the left’s stance on trans athletes in a New York Times article.
Salem, MA – November 8: Protesters in front of Seth Moulton’s office. (Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“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,” Moulton said in the piece.
After the comments were made, Moulton’s campaign manager and director of his “Serve America” political committee Matt Chilliak reportedly stepped down from his position, according to The Boston Globe.
Maher believes that Moulton would be right to let Chilliak leave amid some Democrats’ thinking on trans inclusion.
“Congressman Moulton sounds reasonable to me, but his campaign manager resigned in protest, let me make this as plain as I can to the smart people, the campaign manager that resigned, yeah, let that person go. Marginalize that guy,” Maher said.
Maher even advocated that it’s time “to make too woke be a cancelable offense.”
Moulton is not alone as a Democrat in wanting to pull back on support for transgender rights, and specifically trans athlete inclusion. His stance marks a growing divide within the party that Maher has now acknowledged, as the issue became one of the party’s biggest and most surprising vulnerabilities in its recent election failure.
Trump and other Republicans hammered Harris and Democrat opponents on the issue in the weeks leading up to the election. In response, the Democrats had no clear consensus on a response. Multiple Democrats who signed bills in support of trans inclusion in the past had to publicly pull back on their support ahead of the election. These include Texas Rep. Colin Allred, Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola.
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Meanwhile, Ohio Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown was forced to defend himself when being linked to the issue by claiming he was never in favor of allowing biological males in women’s sports.
Still, many on the left have been vocal about defending trans inclusion. This includes one of Maher’s HBO colleagues. “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver recently delivered a passionate tirade against those who have spoken out against trans inclusion in one of his episodes. Oliver criticized the Harris campaign for not being more vocal in defense of trans inclusion, and spouted unsubstantiated claims that biological male trans athletes are not at an advantage to biological females.
“The Harris campaign failed to formulate a response, especially when it’s pretty easy to do,” Oliver said. “There are vanishingly few trans girls competing in high schools anywhere, even if there were more, trans kids like all kids vary in terms of athletic ability, and there is no evidence they pose any threat to safety or fairness.”
The Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule in April that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.” And while the administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
Bills like the Equality Act and a Transgender Bill of Rights have been proposed and co-sponsored by Democrats, which would help enable transgender inclusion in women’s sports at a national level.
Meanwhile, President-elect Trump has suggested a federal ban of transgender inclusion in women’s and girls sports.
In June, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents to weigh in on whether transgender athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex.
Students hold flags as they protest against Katy ISD’s new transgender policy outside the school district’s educational support complex on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 in Katy, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Sixty-five percent answered that it should either be never or rarely allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing on women’s sports teams, 69% opposed it.
The United Nations released study findings that say nearly 900 biological females have been denied medals in sports because they were beaten out by transgender athletes.
The study, titled “Violence against women and girls in sports,” said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.
“The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males,” the report said.
