Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly transgender person elected to serve in Congress, on Sunday called the move by House Republicans to ban her from using women’s bathrooms in the Capitol “good-natured” and “extraordinary.” misdirection from other policy priorities.
“I think we all agree that this attempt to attack a vulnerable community is not only mean-spirited, it’s really misguided,” McBride told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “Every time we hear the incoming administration or Republicans in Congress talking about any vulnerable group in this country, we need to be clear that this is an attempt to distract.”
He added: “This is an attempt to distract from what they are actually doing. Every time, every time we hear them say the word trans, look what they do with their right hands. Look at what they’ve done to pick the pockets of American workers, to cover up the elderly by privatizing Social Security and Medicare,” McBride added.
In a separate interview on Sunday, he too He described ongoing Republican moves to limit where he can use the bathroom on Capitol Hill as “a lot of noise.”
“There’s been a lot of noise around me the last two years, the last two weeks, but I’ve been focused,” McBride told MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”
He added that he did not run for his seat, where he will begin serving as a first-term congressman in January, to make waves.
“I didn’t run to be first. I did not run to make history. I ran to serve this state that I love and deliver to Delawareans,” McBride said.
His comments come as Republicans have stepped up attacks on him over the past two weeks, along with RSC Rep. Nancy Mace. sponsors the resolution It would prohibit House members and staff from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”
Shortly after introducing the resolution, Mays called the event “absolutely” aimed at McBride.
On Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Mace, said in the statement“In the Capitol and House Office Buildings, all single-sex facilities — restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms — are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.”
He added that “each Member’s office has its own private restroom and unisex restrooms are available in the Capitol.”
On Sunday, Mace doubled down on her anti-trans rhetoric, telling Fox News: “Now a lot of women feel braver and braver today because I’m speaking my mind. They feel that they will be supported.”
After Mays and Johnson’s statements, Democrats in both houses of Congress backed McBride and condemned Republicans for targeting him.
On Sunday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., called Mace “disgusting and wrong,” telling CNN: “We have problems in this country, but he’s worried about a member of Congress using the bathroom. First, his position is disgusting and wrong. I think so, but I also think we have more things to worry about than someone peeing somewhere.”
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that President Joe Biden was “very proud” of McBride, adding, “What [McBride] he said, ‘I’m not here to fight for the bathroom. I am here to fight for Delawareans and reduce the costs families face. We also agree with him.”
On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused House Republicans of “bullying” McBride.
“This incoming small House Republican Conference majority is starting to move into the new Congress by teasing the member of Congress,” Jeffries told reporters.
He added: “Is this what we do? Is this the lesson you learned from the November election? “It’s your priority that instead of welcoming a member of Congress to join this institution, you want to insult him so that we can all work together and deliver real results for the American people.”