Politicians Keep Stumbling Over One Simple Question. Sarah McBride Has an Answer.

Simple questions about sex and gender have a way of stumping politicians from both parties.

When Megyn Kelly asked Donald Trump during the 2024 primary whether a man can become a woman, he fumbled: “In my opinion, you have a man, you have a woman.” She pressed Republican candidates throughout that cycle, criticizing Chris Christie for opposing a federal ban on transition care for minors and panning Nikki Haley for refusing to endorse a national ban on care for adults.

But Democrats have struggled even more visibly. When Josh Hawley asked an OB-GYN at a Senate hearing earlier this month whether men can get pregnant, Dr. Nisha Verma struggled to respond. She hedged, talked about treating patients with “different identities,” and called the question “polarizing.” The clip went viral. Conservatives pounced.

And these questions aren’t going away. Axios recently surveyed nearly 20 Democrats seen as possible 2028 contenders on trans issues. Most ducked it entirely—Harris, AOC, Pritzker, Newsom, Beshear, Murphy, Booker all declined to respond. Only three offered any answer at all.

If Democrats want to move forward on this issue, they need answers. Not dodges. Not deflections. Actual responses.

In a recent Bulwark podcast appearance, Rep. Sarah McBride showed what that might look like.

“I know what you’re trying to do here,” McBride said. “I know you’re trying to have a moment here for yourself. For a small number of people who are transgender there are steps they can take to transition. But I think the crux of the question and for people of goodwill who are interested in my answer here, they are looking to see whether I believe there are differences between transgender women and women who are born female and yes, there are differences. And regardless of whether you think those differences should impact certain policies or not, I think all of us can agree that people should be treated with dignity and respect, and that we shouldn’t be bullying a small group of people who are just trying to live their lives to the fullest and be contributing members of society.”

McBride’s answer does several things at once. She names the game—acknowledging that these questions are often asked in bad faith to generate a “moment.” She gives a direct answer to the underlying concern, conceding that yes, there are differences between trans women and cis women. And she pivots to the principle that should unite people of goodwill: basic dignity and respect.

Compare this to how most Democrats handle these questions. They either dodge (like the 17 potential 2028 candidates who wouldn’t answer Axios), or they get defensive and start talking about “polarizing language” (like Dr. Verma). Neither works. Dodging looks like you’re hiding something. Getting defensive looks like you know you’re on the losing side of public opinion.

McBride’s approach offers a different path: engage directly, concede the obvious, and redirect to shared values.

There’s also a deeper point worth making about the “simple biology” framing that underlies these gotcha questions. It’s not actually as simple as the questioners pretend.

Consider: people with XY chromosomes have gotten pregnant. A 2007 case study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism documented a woman with a predominantly 46,XY karyotype—meaning her cells contained male chromosomes—who menstruated regularly, got pregnant twice without medical assistance, and gave birth. Her ovarian tissue was 93% XY. She wasn’t trans. She wasn’t an edge case invented to win political arguments. She was a woman living her life who happened to have the “wrong” chromosomes for her biology.

The same study documented an extended family with multiple members experiencing variations in sexual development across four generations. Biology is messy. Chromosomes don’t always match anatomy. The binary framework that underlies “can men get pregnant” is a simplification—useful for most contexts, but not the universal truth the question assumes.

Will engaging with these questions satisfy everyone? Of course not. Bad-faith questioners aren’t looking for nuanced discussions of intersex conditions and chromosomal variation. They want a soundbite.

But that’s precisely why having an answer matters. When you engage directly—like McBride does—you take away the gotcha. You turn a trap into a conversation. And you show voters that you’re not afraid of questions.

Democrats have spent years running from these questions. McBride is showing them how to stand their ground instead.

Here’s my answer to “can men get pregnant”:

"Pregnancy typically happens in people born female, but biology is more complicated than a gotcha question. What I care about is that everyone—including pregnant women and a small number of trans Americans—gets treated with basic dignity. That's not a controversial position."

What do you think is a good answer? Let me know in the comments.