Democratic rep calls on party to tolerate dissenting ideas on controversial issues

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., urged the Democratic Party to be more tolerant of dissenting opinions on controversial issues — such as transgender athletes competing in women's sports — during a conversation with Bill Maher on "Real Time" on Friday.

Moulton argued that one of the Democratic Party’s biggest problems is its intolerance of internal dissent, which has led to Republicans winning over the public on hot-button issues.

The Massachusetts representative faced calls for his resignation last November after he challenged the left's stance on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports during an interview with The New York Times.

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"Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face," he said at the time. "I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that."

Maher brought this up during his conversation with Moulton and praised him for speaking out, claiming that Democrats need to stop taking the unpopular side of "80/20" issues.

The late-night host also mentioned that Moulton's campaign manager quit over his statement on transgender athletes and that people like his former campaign manager "are the problem."

"The point is, we can't have disagreements in the party," Moulton claimed. "That was actually the latter half of my juicy quote to the New York Times. I just said, ‘I don’t want my daughter getting run over,' but as a Democrat, I'm not allowed to say that."

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He continued, saying, "That's the problem: we can't even discuss these issues. We can't even have a reasonable policy on trans people in sports because we're not allowed to talk about it, and Republicans just run away with the issue, and they're very extreme."

Maher told Moulton that while he appreciates him taking that stance, "it's got to go further than that."

"You have to be able to talk about it, and also, that guy's wrong and you're right! How about that? You're right about this," he asserted. 

Later on in the conversation, the Democratic representative called out his party for slamming Republicans as "weird," while simultaneously requiring members to have their pronouns listed in their email signatures.

"Look, if you want to be trans, go for it. It's a free country, and you can put your pronouns out there, but don't put that on me," Moulton explained.

He reiterated that Democrats need to stop taking the "20" side of "80/20" issues and expect to win over the majority of the country.

"We got to actually be real with the American people — just be honest — and it's okay if you disagree, I'm fine with that," Moulton stated. "But I get to speak as a dad, that's legitimate."

Fox News' Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.