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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., suggested he has gotten more support than publicly known from fellow House Democrats after speaking out about how the party handles dissent within its ranks.
Moulton sparked a progressive firestorm after he made comments to The New York Times expressing concern about transgender student athletes playing alongside biological females. He said most Democrats were afraid to come forward with similar views for fear of retribution.
Progressives at the local, state and federal level condemned the remarks — including House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who called them "offensive" on CNN.
"Look, I understand people have different opinions and different perspectives, and that's my whole point. The comments were not meant to be offensive, but we…ought to be willing to have a debate. And that's exactly what I'm willing to do," Moulton told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
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"While a few, a handful, maybe just a couple members of Congress have spoken out against the comments, I've got an awful lot more who will go up to me privately and say thank you."
His initial comments, which he has since doubled-down on multiple times, prompted the Democratic Party in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, to threaten to recruit a challenger against him in 2026.
"It’s a democracy. If you want to run against me, go for it," Moulton told Fox News Digital of the threat, though he added it was "not going to be very helpful for winning elections."
"What we need to do is defeat Republicans, not fellow Democrats," he said.
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The party has been busy soul-searching in the days since the Democrats’ devastating performances in the presidential, Senate and House elections.
Moderates like Moulton and Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., have accused the Democratic Party of overly catering to its furthest-left base at the expense of trying to relate to a broader swath of everyday Americans and their issues.
Moulton argued Democratic policies were better for those Americans than Republican policies but suggested the left had a messaging problem because of "too much preaching and not enough listening."
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"People think that this is exactly the kind of debate that we need to have. And it's not just on trans issues, it's on the economy. Why are we out of touch with Americans on the economy when Trump's plan is going to dramatically raise grocery prices…How is it that we're so out of touch on immigration when we're the ones who proposed a bipartisan immigration deal?" Moulton said.
"It seems like Democrats do have a lot of good solutions for working Americans, and yet we're really out of touch. So we've got to ask ourselves that question. Why have we lost touch with so many people across America?"
