Sarah McBride reflects on becoming first openly transgender person elected to Congress

The 119th Congress will have several members whose elections made history. One of them is Representative-elect Sarah McBride, a state senator who won Delaware’s at-large seat in the House. She will become the first openly transgender member of the United States Congress. McBride joined Amna Nawaz to discuss more.
Amna Nawaz:
The 119th Congress will have several members whose elections made history. One of them is representative-elect Sarah McBride, a state senator who won Delaware’s at-large seat in the House and becomes the first openly transgender member of the United States Congress.
She joins me now.
Welcome. Thanks for being here.
Sarah McBride (D), Delaware Congresswoman-Elect: Thanks for having me.
Amna Nawaz:
First and foremost, congratulations.
Sarah McBride:
Thank you.
Amna Nawaz:
We should note you defeated your Republican opponent by a comfortable margin, but this also happened in the backdrop of a campaign that specifically included a lot of anti-transgender TV ads by the Trump campaign. What does your win say to you about your constituents?
Sarah McBride:
I think this election, this result reinforces what I have seen throughout my life, which is Delawareans are fair-minded and that, in our state of neighbors, we judge candidates based on their ideas and not their identities.
I ran on my track record of bipartisan results in the Delaware State Senate, passing paid family and medical leave and the largest investment in our state’s Medicaid program since the Affordable Care Act passed, and on what I would do in Congress, and that’s to focus on bringing down costs facing families, to provide affordable housing, childcare, and health care to every single one of my neighbors.
And voters responded to that even with all of the anti-trans ads. I wasn’t hearing about them on the trail. What I was hearing about is the need to make the American dream more affordable and accessible for everyone.
Amna Nawaz:
Let’s talk about what you would be able to do in Congress, though, because, as we sit here and speak now, it’s very likely you’re going to be in the minority in the House. You’re going to have Republicans controlling the Senate, Republicans controlling the White House.
So what is realistic and achievable for you in the way of policy goals?
Sarah McBride:
Look, democracy only works if we’re willing to not only have conversation across disagreement, but work across disagreement.
I’m proud that, during my time in the Delaware General Assembly, nearly every bill that I introduced and passed, passed with bipartisan support. So I’m ready to roll up my sleeves, dive into the details, and work with anyone who’s willing to work with me to help Delaware.
Now, obviously, given the results of the election, that’s often going to mean standing up to the Trump/Vance administration and their attempt to undermine workers and retirees in this country. But where there are opportunities to find common ground, sometimes on the issues outside of the headlines, there’s an ability…
Amna Nawaz:
What are some of those issues, for example?
Sarah McBride:
So, for instance, in Delaware, I was able to work very closely with our conservative Republican leader in the state Senate to expand access to rural health care and rural communities.
I’d love to continue to work on issues that matter to Delawareans in urban, suburban and rural areas across the state of Delaware. And I’m going to look for those opportunities on a whole host of issues that make a real difference in the lives of my constituents. They might fall outside the traditional ideological and partisan battle lines.
And those are issues where you can find common ground with Republicans. And I look forward to building relationships and building trust and respect with colleagues on the other side of the aisle. But we can’t give up on our capacity to find durable bipartisan solutions for this country.
Amna Nawaz:
At the same time, I have to ask you, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance made part of their campaign message and a strong part of their closing message a lot of anti-trans rhetoric, right? They spent millions on ads around these messages. A lot of your congressional colleagues-to-be echoed those messages, share those views.
How do you work with them? How does that work?
Sarah McBride:
Well, I think the ones that are particularly consumed with fomenting and manufacturing the culture wars, those folks are professional provocateurs parading as public officials. They are not willing to work with any Democrat, and they can barely work with their own Republican colleagues.
But, look, there are obviously real differences of opinion LGBTQ equality. I’m used to working with people who not only disagree with me, but who disagree with me on some pretty fundamental issues to my own life.
But that’s how we make government work better. It’s by recognizing that I might disagree with you on every other issue but the one right before me, and I have to seize that opportunity to make that progress.
Amna Nawaz:
In the wake of such a decisive victory by former President Trump, now president-elect Trump, there’s a lot of soul-searching, finger-pointing within your party, in the Democratic Party.
And there is this consensus, this idea that Democrats are somehow out of touch with the voters and what really mattered to them in this election. Do you agree with that? And how do Democrats course-correct?
Sarah McBride:
What I can tell you is that when I was campaigning in Delaware, I was not hearing about these attacks on trans people. I was hearing about the cost of living. I was hearing about the need for affordable childcare, housing and health care.
Amna Nawaz:
Should Democrats have leaned into those issues more?
Sarah McBride:
I think Vice President Harris did lean into those issues, but I do believe that we can continue to put forward a bolder agenda that’s very specific to the kitchen table issues that matter to people.
But I think the problem that we have and what we need to address is a bigger problem in our politics. All of us have to do a better job of seeing the very real pain that exists across this country, across the political divide and living the truth that we don’t have to believe that people are right for what they’re facing to be wrong, and we do not have to believe that they are right for us to try to right that wrong.
And I think we can do a better job of demonstrating that radical compassion and that radical grace in our politics.
Amna Nawaz:
Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware, thank you for being here. Welcome to Washington.
Sarah McBride:
Thank you.