Democrats and their allies in the media are still coming to terms with what happened in the 2024 election.
Some on the left have started to admit that the party went too far left on cultural and social issue like radical transgender ideology, which has been further confirmed by polling data. But there are still others who are dismissing such concerns. Case in point: Jen Psaki, who urged Democrats to not shy away from the cause on her MSNBC show over the weekend.
On Tuesday’s program, Megyn was joined by Dan Turrentine, co-host of 2Way’s Morning Meeting, to talk about Psaki dismissing the concerns of voters who care about protecting women’s sports and spaces and how out-of-touch the pundit class in America has become.
Psaki’s Message to Dems
On Sunday’s edition of Inside with Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary tried to make the case that Democrats should not abandon causes like transgender rights in an effort to appeal to more voters.
“What I worry about is that, in the course all that soul-searching, some Democrats might reach the wrong sweeping conclusions,” Psaki mused. “And there are a lot of issues that fall into that bucket, but one in particular that stuck out to me is transgender rights.”
She went on to accuse Republicans of creating “manufactured panic” and weaponizing the issue for political gain. “Republicans spent hundreds of millions of dollars on anti-trans ads this election cycle, including one that showed Vice President Harris talking about government funding for gender reaffirming care for prisoners and detainees,” Psaki lamented. “If that sounds like a particularly obscure issue, it is because it applies to a tiny group of people.”
Psaki claimed that concerns about men and boys playing in women’s and girls’ sports are overblown. “Another one of the lines that ran over and over again in those ads and throughout right-wing media is this idea that America is faced with a crisis of boys playing in girls’ sports,” she said. “Now, these ads created this perception that the issues of trans kids playing sports was dominating schools across the country, which is completely false.”
In her view, trans athletes hardly ever take opportunities away from female athletes. “There are just incredibly few examples of transgender girls playing in youth sports,” Psaki added. “And when we see those examples, there isn’t evidence that these kids are a threat to safety or fairness.”
Protecting Women’s Sports
The United Nations would be among those who disagree with Psaki’s analysis. A U.N. study released last month titled “Violence against women and girls in sports” found women have lost nearly 900 medals to transgender athletes competing against them in at least 29 different sports.
And then there is the safety component. “No evidence that they’re a threat to safety and fairness? I mean… tell it to the girl in Massachusetts who had all her teeth knocked out by a boy on the field hockey field. Tell it to Payton McNabb, who now has permanent paralysis on her arm thanks to being slammed in the in the head by a male player posing as female. Tell to girls in Wisconsin who saw a male… parading around at 18 years old in their locker room as the freshman girls are trying to take a shower,” Megyn explained. “There have been multiple instances where girls actually have been hurt, never mind the 1,000 or so where they have lost medals and… lost scholarships.”
While those situations are specific to elementary, middle, and high school students, Megyn said the examples only multiply when you reach the collegiate and professional levels. “I’m talking mostly K through 12,” she noted. “If you want to go up to the college level, it is a much greater number.”
Where Voters Stand
As Megyn reported last week, data from the Democratic public opinion research firm Blueprint found that “cultural issues” – which included trans issues – were top of mind for voters who picked Donald Trump over Harris.
Blueprint found the top reasons voters gave for not supporting Harris were that “inflation was too high,” “too many immigrants crossed the border,” and she was “too focused on cultural issues rather than helping the middle class.”
The concerns were consistent across demographic groups, including black and Latino voters. But when you looked specifically at so-called “swing voters” who broke for Trump, “cultural issues like transgender issues” were their chief concern.
Turrentine, who is a former Democratic strategist, admitted people like Psaki are not in touch with the electorate. “I think the punditry class… is going to be the last to get it,” he said. But he said the people who are responsible for making sure the Democrats bounce back in 2026 have no choice but to pay attention.
“I think that those whose job it is to get elected and to win races are doing a lot of soul-searching right now,” Turrentine explained. “And I think there is a lot of agreement that, on cultural issues, the party is adrift and that what they’re advocating for is not popular with large segments of the country.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that it won’t remain a topic of conversation in left-wing media. “I think where the fight is going to occur is more on the economic message with the kind of Bernie Sanders wing versus the Bill Clinton wing, but… those in the media are still going to pound the table,” Turrentine said. “I think some of that is they are hoping that they get ratings, but I think the party knows that they need to make a lot of change.”
Regardless, Megyn believes it is a win-win. “I hope for their sake that they do it, but I feel like I win either way on this issue because either they change and come over to my side of reason or they don’t change and they keep losing,” she concluded. “Either way, it is okay by me.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Halperin and Turrentine by tuning in to episode 948 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.