Mark Herz: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. Democratic politicians and leaders are continuing to process their loss of the White House, the Senate, and their slim prospects to retake the House. And they are now puzzling their way forward as a party in a clearly changed political landscape. With me now with his perspective is Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton, someone who most saliently, I would add, was among the very first in Congress to urge Joe Biden to step aside and give up his reelection bid. Welcome, Congressman.

Rep. Seth Moulton: It’s good to be here. Thanks for having me.

Herz: Thank you, thank you for joining us. In addition to your earlier urging, that was back in July that President Biden step aside. You know, you’ve been, I will say, kind of a voice in the wilderness. You challenged Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier on, but maybe some would say particularly with reference to Biden and the overall direction of your party now that your vice, you know, maybe is now revealed to be prophetic given the election results. I mean, I want to ask you, you know, do you are you a prophet? And are you determined to move your party in some profound and maybe even some rightward leaning ways now?

Moulton: I don’t think I’m a prophet at all. I just think I listen. I listen to the American people. And I think Democrats as a party spend too much time preaching, preaching down to people, talking down to folks and telling them this is what you need, this is what you want, rather than just getting out there on the ground and listening to everyday Americans.

Herz: Right. I mean, you recently said that just basically what you were just saying, that your party’s been out of touch. The election shows that. I mean, we’ve all been hearing about inflation and immigration, two big issues this election. But my question is, so if you all go out and listen more, then what do you need to do? What are the actionable steps that you and others in your party can start taking on those issues that we already know people care about deeply?

Moulton: Well, oftentimes if you listen to the American people, they’ll tell you the truth. Like the American people wanted Joe Biden to step aside. Now, to be fair, they wanted Trump to step aside as well. And we should get credit as the one party that responded to the call for Americans for a new candidate. And although we didn’t win this race, we lost quite badly, we did appreciably better than we would have done if Joe Biden were still the candidate. I wish he had stepped aside earlier. When you go out and listen to Americans, they’ll tell you that the southern border is a problem. So when Democrats get up and deny that we’re not speaking to the real concern of Americans all across the country, I mean, migration is an issue up here in Massachusetts in this election. We haven’t seen that in ages. But when you talk to Americans, they’ll tell you that inflation is a problem. But remember when Democrats were out there saying inflation is transient? I mean, what the hell does that even mean? But we were trying to tell people, no, no, don’t worry. It’s not really a problem. It’s not really affecting your grocery prices. Just grin and bear it. And that’s just totally out of touch with Americans. So we do need to spend more time listening to Americans and then actually delivering real answers to their concerns. Now, I disagree with a lot of the Republican answers. I mean, this is a party that controlled the White House, the House and the Senate back in 2016 and did nothing to fix our immigration problem. So Democrats have an opportunity to propose real solutions. But first of all, we’ve got to acknowledge the problems and we’re not doing enough of that.

Herz: Okay. And also on the topic of the direction of your party just the other day, you know, and you’ve been talking about also as a problem identity politics in general with the Democratic Party. But you went pretty far with this the other day. You were talking to The New York Times. And I’m going to read this quote, It’s about trans people. You said 'Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face. I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formally male athlete. But as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.’ Why are you not afraid to say that now? I’m sorry. Go ahead. Yes.

Moulton: Well, I think it’s funny that you characterize that as going too far.

Herz: No. I said, well, going far. It’s not up to me to say too far. Sorry.

Moulton: Right. But that’s the point, right? Is that a lot of us in the sort of liberal elite, and look, I’m guilty of this, you know, I’ve got a few degrees from Harvard, but we’re not listening to Americans. And this is actually a real concern that I hear from fellow dads. I’m speaking just authentically as a dad. Now, of course, trans people deserve the same rights as the rest of Americans. I mean, we’re the only party that’s going to protect the rights of trans people and and gays and lesbians and minorities of all sorts of types all across America. So we have to stand up for them. But it doesn’t mean that we need to totally change our society. I mean, here we are accusing Republicans of being weird and we’re the ones who are suddenly requiring people to put pronouns in their email signatures. I mean, that’s kind of weird, to be honest. You know, we went through the whole gay rights movement. We went through the whole civil rights movement. We never had to say, you know, Seth Moulton: Straight or Seth Moulton: White. And all of a sudden, we have to change all our values to meet the needs or demands of one very small minority group. So I think we just have to be able to have a real discussion about this. And I’m not saying that I’m the expert. I’m just saying that I’m listening to the concerns of real Americans and I’m trying to represent their issues and their perspectives and their values. And if we do that more as a party and we’re just willing to have that honest debate, I mean, to have that debate with me. Change my mind on this issue, I’m open to that. I’m fine. But we shouldn’t be afraid to even have the discussion. We shouldn’t get canceled just because we bring up a point where we disagree, especially if we’re trying to be the majority party. I mean, by definition, if you’re the majority party, you have to welcome competing views. You have to represent a diversity of people in America, not just the single minded view of the values in morals that every American should have, in your opinion.

Herz: Okay. Well, tagging on to that, what else do you think Democrats are afraid to say that they need to say?

Moulton: Well, I guess there’s probably a long list, but we have to have I mean, one place I think is pretty interesting and something that, you know, those in sort of academic circles can sink their teeth into, too, is what our economic policy should be, right? Because some people argue, you know, Democrats need to have an economic policy more in line with the center, more in line with the American Chamber of Commerce, you know, support businesses and job creators, much like Reagan did. Right. Cut taxes for corporations and that will create more jobs across America. But interestingly, that’s not even what many Republicans are saying anymore. That’s certainly not what Donald Trump is saying. His economic policies are much more populist, although, let’s be honest, at the end of the day, he does want to cut taxes for his billionaire friends. But he’s speaking almost in tones that sound more like Bernie Sanders. So I think we need to have a debate in the Democratic Party as to whether we really want to move more to the center and just help out business owners or whether we actually should listen more to Bernie Sanders. I mean, here’s a place where I often rail against the left and how they help us lose these elections. But when it comes to economic policies, I think that some of Bernie Sanders’ ideas actually resonate with many working people across America. I hear that from them. So maybe we should think more carefully about exactly what our economic policy should be. And the point is that this is not just some one monolithic, oh, we need to move to the center. We need to move to the left. We’re a diverse party with a lot of great ideas. We need to really reexamine which of those ideas make sense going forward, because clearly our ideas and our just sort of overall culture didn’t resonate with the majority of Americans in this election. That’s why we lost so badly.

Herz: Okay. Well, and just in the last 30 seconds or so, what are the conversations that you’ll be having in the coming weeks with your colleagues now?

Moulton: Well, I’m going to be encouraging them to listen more. I’m going to be encouraging them to get out on the ground. I’m going to be encouraging them to speak in real terms about the immigration problems we have, about the economic issues that Americans face and about the cultural values that people feel the Democratic Party has lost touch with.

Herz: Okay. And I guess last question. You are a veteran. How are you spending Veteran’s Day on Monday?

Moulton: On Veterans Day, I’m hosting another veterans town hall, a tradition that Sebastian Junger and I started.

Herz: Great.

Moulton: To allow veterans to come and share some stories about their own experiences and how it’s impacted their lives ever since, and a way to reconnect not just with fellow veterans, but with the broader community of Americans who support veterans, but have trouble relating to our experiences.

Herz: Wonderful. Well, thank you, Congressman Seth Moulton, and Happy Veterans Day.

Moulton: Thank you very much.

Herz: Okay. This is GBH.

 

Rep. Seth Moulton said he is blaming Democrats for being out of touch with Americans for losses in the White House, Senate and possibly the House this week.

In an interview with GBH’s Morning Edition on Friday, also repeated comments about trans athletes he had earlier made in the New York Times that leaders in Salem and across Massachusetts have called harmful.

“I think Democrats as a party spend too much time preaching, preaching down to people, talking down to folks and telling them this is what you need, this is what you want, rather than just getting out there on the ground and listening to everyday Americans,” Moulton told GBH News.

Moulton was among the first elected officials to call on President Joe Biden to step aside from his re-election bid.

“Oftentimes if you listen to the American people, they’ll tell you the truth,” he said. “The American people wanted Joe Biden to step aside. Now, to be fair, they wanted [Donald] Trump to step aside as well. And we should get credit as the one party that responded to the call for Americans for a new candidate. And although we didn’t win this race — we lost quite badly — we did appreciably better than we would have done if Joe Biden were still the candidate.”

Moulton said Democrats’ message on the economy amid higher prices did not resonate with many Americans.

“Remember when Democrats were out there saying inflation is transient? I mean, what the hell does that even mean?” he said. “But we were trying to tell people, 'No, no, don’t worry. It’s not really a problem. It’s not really affecting your grocery prices. Just grin and bear it.’ And that’s just totally out of touch with Americans.”

He added on to comments he made to the New York Times this week about trans youth playing sports.

“A lot of us in the sort of liberal elite — and look, I’m guilty of this, you know, I’ve got a few degrees from Harvard — but we’re not listening to Americans,” he said. “And this is actually a real concern that I hear from fellow dads. I’m speaking just authentically as a dad. Now, of course, trans people deserve the same rights as the rest of Americans. I mean, we’re the only party that’s going to protect the rights of trans people and gays and lesbians and minorities of all sorts of types all across America. So we have to stand up for them. But it doesn’t mean that we need to totally change our society.”

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo and the city’s school committee sent out an email to parents this week saying they denounced Moulton’s comments to the New York Times “in the strongest terms possible.”

“We want to reassure our LGBTQ+ students that we as district leaders will always celebrate your identities, support your dreams and aspirations, and applaud your accomplishments,” the mayor and school committee’s email said, according to the Boston Globe.

Moulton’s campaign manager, Matt Chilliak, resigned from his role, the Globe reported Friday. Chilliak did not cite a reason for his resignation. But on Wednesday, he referenced transgender people in a post on X about the presidential election results.

According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, there have been 664 bills pieces of anti-trans legislation introduced, both in states and on a national level, since the start of 2024, including one in Massachusetts. The tracker shows 61 of them involved trans people playing sports. While most of those bills have failed — 492 did not become law — 45 of them passed, and 127 are still under consideration.

Currently, 25 states have laws that ban transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

“I mean, here we are accusing Republicans of being weird and we’re the ones who are suddenly requiring people to put pronouns in their email signatures,” Moulton said. “I mean, that’s kind of weird, to be honest. You know, we went through the whole gay rights movement. We went through the whole Civil Rights Movement. We never had to say, you know, 'Seth Moulton: Straight’ or 'Seth Moulton: White.’ And all of a sudden, we have to change all our values to meet the needs or demands of one very small minority group. So I think we just have to be able to have a real discussion about this.”

Moulton said he wanted Democrats to focus more on the economy going forward.

“Some people argue, you know, Democrats need to have an economic policy more in line with the center, more in line with the American Chamber of Commerce, you know, support businesses and job creators, much like Reagan did,” Moulton said. “But interestingly, that’s not even what many Republicans are saying anymore. That’s certainly not what Donald Trump is saying. His economic policies are much more populist, although, let’s be honest, at the end of the day, he does want to cut taxes for his billionaire friends.”

Instead, Moulton said, he’d like Democrats to focus on more populist economic policies in the vein of Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.

“I think that some of Bernie Sanders’ ideas actually resonate with many working people across America. I hear that from them,” he said. “So maybe we should think more carefully about exactly what our economic policy should be. ... We’re a diverse party with a lot of great ideas. We need to really reexamine which of those ideas make sense going forward, because clearly our ideas and our just sort of overall culture didn’t resonate with the majority of Americans in this election. That’s why we lost so badly.”

Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps officer, said he’ll be marking Veterans’ Day Monday with a town hall “to allow veterans to come and share some stories about their own experiences and how it’s impacted their lives ever since, and a way to reconnect not just with fellow veterans, but with the broader community of Americans who support veterans, but have trouble relating to our experiences.”