Democrat Seth Moulton scolds party for shutting down free speech, not listening to voters, in brutal op-ed

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., scolded his party for shutting out opposing opinions and failing to address voters' fears in a brutal opinion article published in the Washington Post on Friday.

"Since Election Day, I’ve learned two things about the Democratic Party: The word police will continue to patrol no matter how badly we lose, and a growing number of us are finally ready to move beyond them to start winning again," Moulton wrote in his Post op-ed headlined, "I'm done with Democratic purity tests."

Moulton, who has come under fire from the left after he spoke out against transgender athletes in girls' sports, argued the blowback to his remarks proved his point that the Democratic Party doesn't champion free speech anymore.

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"Voters want elected officials to give voice to their concerns, not tell them what they should think," Moulton wrote.

"Until not so long ago, we were the party of free speech. We welcomed real, rigorous debate when orthodox conservatives in the Republican Party were afraid of change," he argued, citing his party's fight for Obamacare, abortion and same-sex marriage.

"In every case, we listened, we built trust, and we welcomed those who disagreed into our expanding tent — the definition of a majority party. Just 12 years ago, we even nominated a Democrat who was against gay marriage for president," he continued.

Moulton argued the tide had changed in recent years and his party now seemed opposed to making room for different opinions.

"Independents and Republicans see what we do to fellow Democrats who disagree with the party line. Why would they think they’d have a prayer with us?" Moulton challenged.

Pivoting to the 2024 election, Moulton argued that the Democratic Party often went "straight to denial" when voters brought up concerns on immigration, crime and the economy that they didn't agree with, and it wound up costing them.

"But it turns out that voters knew better, and wanted answers. When 94 percent of Americans said they worried about the border crisis, Trump said he’d fix it. Trump, for all his bluster and lies, sees and understands real fears," Moulton wrote.

"When Democrats don’t engage honestly on real issues important to Americans, we give the impression that we either don’t understand or, worse yet, simply don’t care," he went on. "According to one exit poll, the No. 1 reason swing voters chose Trump was ‘Harris is focused more on cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class.’"

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Moulton chided his party for letting an "easy election" get away from them.

"We lost the White House to a felon who has alienated many of the Republican faithful. Republicans are so dysfunctional that they couldn’t even elect a Speaker of the House for three weeks last year, another first in modern history," Moulton wrote. 

"But the American people voted for Trump because he articulated a vision, however twisted and unconscionable, for solving their problems and addressing their fears."

The congressman called on his party to return to its "proud history" of working to solve the challenges of working-class Americans rather than telling them "what to think or how to feel."

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Moulton drew backlash from his party after telling The New York Times earlier this month, "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 formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that," he said at the time.

Moulton has doubled-down on his comments in the weeks since, prompting some Democrats in Massachusetts to plot to replace him in 2026.