One of the defining ads of the 2024 election cycle was the Trump campaign’s “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” because, as it turned out, the social issue was a major driving factor for swing voters who broke for Trump.
Eight months later, Trump has delivered on his campaign promises to end so-called “gender affirming care” for minors, ban men from competing in women’s sports, and restore sanity to sex and gender language. But Democrats still haven’t seemed to find their footing on the issue.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is believed to have 2028 presidential ambitions, just face planted while attempting to answer a question about ‘trans’ care for eight year olds during an interview with Shawn Ryan. And on Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by another Democrat who is thought to be considering a run for the White House, Rahm Emanuel, to discuss where he stands.
The Q&A
Megyn described Emanuel – who is a former adviser to Bill Clinton, congressman from Illinois, White House chief of staff for Barack Obama, two-term mayor of Chicago, and ambassador to Japan – as “an actual centrist,” and he proved to at least be an independent thinker when it came to subject of radical gender ideology.
Emanuel has been on the record in recent months saying Democrats should worry less about children picking preferred pronouns and more about children who don’t even know what a pronoun is as a way to crystalize why the culture wars have been a losing issue for the left.
But as mayor of Chicago in 2016, he followed the lead of the Obama administration and amended a city law that allowed public places – like hotels and restaurants – to have single-sex bathrooms based on biological gender in order to accommodate trans people. He defended that position when Megyn asked if his opinion has changed. “No, my position– no, not from an inclusive standpoint,” he said. “My point is, though, it’s not the dominant issue.”
Megyn noted, however, that “it is really important” to “a lot of us” and said Emanuel would have to take a position if he is seeking higher office. She then asked him a series of rapid fire questions on the subject.
1. “Do you believe boys should be able to play in girls sports?”
“No,” he responded succinctly.
2. “Do you believe that kids under the age of 18 should be able to be put on puberty blockers and then cross-sex hormones?”
“I think parents have to make that decision themselves,” he said. “I think that is too– a child is too young at 18 to make that decision. It has to be made with a family and that choice. I think before somebody makes a life decision, they have to think twice about that.”
3. “So, you disagree then with the Tim Walz policy in Minnesota, where a child who doesn’t get affirmed by his parents can go into Minnesota and get jurisdiction there and get the parental decision overruled?”
“Yeah, look, I think these are life decisions. And I’m also slightly both– I have two minds, not two minds, but two strains that influence an opinion,” Emanuel explained. “One, it is a life decision and a child can’t make that decision. You have to have some moral development, and character, and judgment and foundation for that. Two, parents have to be involved in that, and I think that’s for them to make. I don’t think the public should be in that space.”
After Megyn expressed concern that there “are some patents out there who are completely whacked in the head” and it is “terrifying” to think they could make these decisions for their children, Emanuel circled back to the issue of men in women’s sports. “I left this out, but I want to repeat it is: I have a son and two daughters, and they are physically different,” he added.
4. “Should we be putting men in female prisons – men claiming they are women?”
“No,” Emanuel replied.
5. “Alright, here’s my last one for you: Can a man become a woman?”
“Can a man become a woman,” he repeated. “Not– no.”
When Megyn praised Emanuel for telling “the truth without qualifications” in response to her final question and asked why “more people in your party” don’t do the same, he joked it is “because I’m now going to go into a witness protection plan.”
The Analysis
The conversation about ‘trans issues’ lasted about five-minutes, which Emanuel called “too much time.” When Mark Halperin joined Megyn to react to the interview later in the show, he said the veteran politician came across as ill-prepared for the line of questioning that he should have seen coming from a mile away given Megyn’s position on the subject.
“He basically tried to avoid answering until you wouldn’t let him,” Halperin noted. “Maybe he thinks that was the right way to do it. But to me, that seems unprepared. Not just mechanically unprepared, but if he is not ready to confront that issue with you, what is he waiting for?”
In Link Lauren’s view, Emanuel seemed wishy-washy on the subject, and he said his tepidness speaks to a larger issue for Democrats. “I think the overarching thesis and takeaway from the interview is just how broken the Democrat brand is. That a guy goes, ‘men and women are different’ and we’re like… ‘This is groundbreaking for a Democrat,'” he said. “That is how broken the identity is.”
Former Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine praised Emanuel for being willing to break with the progressive base of the party in a “Sister Souljah moment,” but he said he is going to run into trouble because he needs to find ways to “throw some bones” to them as well. “The problem for Rahm is the energy is in the base, and the base can’t stand him,” he noted.
This marked Megyn’s first time interviewing Emanuel, and she has been open about why she believes he is an “interesting” option for Dems in 2028. She said those feelings largely remain the same after their sit-down. “My own impression was I thought we had a very cordial first 48 minutes together… We touched on some hot button issues, but we kept it cordial and I think that’s good,” she said. “I really wanted the audience to get to know him, and I wanted to see if he would say normal things to me without me, like, beating him over the head or him beating me overhead.”
“And I was amazed at some of his direct answers,” Megyn added. “Yes, he wiggled on the trans thing for quite a while. But in the end, when we did our little lightning round, he did give me a couple of points.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Emanuel by tuning in to episode 1,112 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.