Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) suggested Friday that President-elect Trump won the 2024 election over Vice President Harris, in part, because he shared his true vision, “however twisted and unconscionable,” for the country.
The “American people voted for Trump because he articulated a vision, however twisted and unconscionable, for solving their problems and addressing their fears,” he wrote in an op-ed shared by the Washington Post.
Moulton in his piece urged members of the Democratic Party to listen more to voters, even if they disagree or think differently about what concerns their constituents.
“Trump, for all his bluster and lies, sees and understands real fears. When Americans worried about crime, he promised to support cops (even though his White House budget didn’t deliver),” the lawmaker, who represents the Bay State’s 6th Congressional District, wrote.
“Some Democrats, meanwhile, called to ‘defund the police.’ When voters said they were tired of violence, shoplifting and a growing sense of disorder in their communities, some of us held up national and historical (i.e., irrelevant) data to prove their feelings were wrong,” he added.
The Democratic lawmaker continued, “When Democrats don’t engage honestly on real issues important to Americans, we give the impression that we either don’t understand or, worse yet, simply don’t care.”
Moulton has been a vocal critic of the party’s performance in the 2024 cycle. In an interview with CNN following significant losses for Democrats, he admitted that the party “lost big,” and said they “should have cleaned up.”
“This should have been an easy election for Democrats,” he wrote. “We lost the White House to a felon who has alienated many of the Republican faithful.”
Moulton has received blowback over his analysis of the election and his recent remarks that were critical of transgender athletes. Shortly after the Massachusetts Democrat said he opposed trans athletes competing in women’s sports, his campaign manager resigned. Days later, he doubled down on his remarks, saying in an interview with MSNBC that he was “speaking authentically” as a father.
The House Democrat has contended that the party leaned too much into identity politics.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” he told The New York Times days after the 2024 contest. “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.”
In the op-ed, Mouton wrote that several Democrats in various posts have reached out to him to thank him for his remarks that stirred controversy in his home state.
“The question of whether to have reasonable restrictions on transgender women’s participation in women’s sports wasn’t their point — though most agree — just as it wasn’t mine,” Moulton wrote. “They were simply glad that a fellow Democrat would violate the moratorium on speaking our minds.”
“Voters want elected officials to give voice to their concerns, not tell them what they should think,” he argued.
Moulton noted that he learned two things about his party since Election Day.
“The word police will continue to patrol no matter how badly we lose, and a growing number of us are finally ready to move beyond them to start winning again,” he wrote.
