Rep. Sarah McBride on GOP... “They’re employing the strategies of reality TV"

[Jessica_Rose]

Rep. Sarah McBride on GOP attacks: "They're employing the strategies of reality TV."

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/06/rep-sarah-mcbride-on-gop-attacks-theyre-employing-the-strategies-of-reality-tv/

Julianne McShane (11 June 2025)

My red carpet interview with Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) at the Saturday premiere of a new documentary on her history-making election as the first openly transgender member of Congress...

State of Firsts portrays McBride grappling with both the highs and the lows of what it meant to step into her role.

Part of that challenge came from her GOP colleagues. In one scene, McBride watches Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attack her with insults on Steve Bannon's podcast. "She's just going to act like that every day," McBride says to a campaign staffer as they watch the clip while sitting on a couch, "and my job will be to not respond."

That self-imposed challenge was put to the test just weeks after her election, when Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution seeking to bar McBride from using the women's restroom.

"The disobedience isn't taking a toilet seat; the disobedience is taking this congressional seat," McBride says in a scene while driving her car after an orientation in DC for freshman lawmakers. "It's not just that they don't want me in bathrooms; they don't want me in Congress."

"A win for them is me fighting back and then turning me into a caricature," she continues. "There would be a bounty on my head if I said I refused to comply. I refuse to be martyred. I want to be a member of Congress." And in what is perhaps her most blunt assessment of the risks she faces, McBride says: "It's hard to play the long game when your short-term life is at risk."

[Sephirah]

Of course it's reality TV. That's what Trump bases everything on. It always reminds me of that episode of The Orville where literally everything anyone does is based on upvotes. Like a social media post. They saw this coming. That's what Trump bases his life around and what he's dragged your country into basing it's beliefs around. He never stopped being a reality TV star. Unfortunately he's sucked a good many people in your country into the same mindset.

Sarah is doing the right thing. Don't give these people the attention they so clearly crave. Stick to what you believe in. Good on her.