Chadwick Moore is at it again.
After complaining about getting banned from Grindr last month for having a transphobic profile, the gay conservative writer claimed Vermont gubernatorial nominee Christine Hallquist won this week’s Democratic primary because she’s trans. In an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Moore claimed the victory was an example of “transgender privilege.”
On Tucker Carlson Tonight, the oft-incendiary conservative interviewed Democratic strategist Robin Biro about Hallquist’s history-making win, as well as comments she made about the religious right on Twitter.
Responding to an LGBTQ Nation story about an eight-year-old who was not allowed to play girls’ soccer because she “looks like a boy,” the nation’s first trans governor candidate claimed in a June 2017 tweet: “Radicalized Christians are a part of the American landscape, and we tolerate it.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“And we worry about sharia law!!” Hallquist added.
https://twitter.com/Christinehinvt/status/872019826297974784
“I don’t want to besmirch her free right to speech,” Biro claimed when Carlson brought up the year-old social media post, adding: “As a transgender woman, she’s come under a lot of criticism.”
Carlson, though, suggested she had gotten a free pass to criticize Christians because of her gender identity.
“Oh well, I don’t know if she has or not,” he responded, with his trademark air of condescension. “I think she’s celebrated for it, actually. Let’s stop pretending — of course, she is celebrated for it.”
Moore agreed, claiming her status as a trans woman affords Hallquist a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.
“You’re absolutely right to acknowledge [Christine] Hallquist’s transgender privilege,” he said. “She can get away with many, many things simply by being transgender. I mean, who knows if that’s even how she won this primary.”
“But while the entire country is fixated on the fact that she’s transgender, nobody knows anything about her policies,” Moore added.
Biro jumped in to say that he does know what Hallquist stands for.
“Yeah, you know that she’s for Medicaid for all,” Moore claimed, deflecting his response. “She’s a climate alarmist, she believes in $15 minimum wage, and that’s kind of it.”
“Not correct,” Biro interjected.
That’s when Moore began criticizing Hallquist’s appearance. The former Out editor, who was fired following universal condemnation of a flattering profile of alt-right enfant terrible Milo Yiannopoulos, claimed she appeared “half dead” during a cable news appearance the same day.
“She was on CNN this morning, looking half dead, very low energy,” he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcgMseULUi8
Moore’s attack on Hallquist — which included two instances of misgendering her — wasn’t even the first transphobic incident of the day on Fox News. Earlier in the day, Fox & Friends anchor Ainsley Earhardt referred to the Democrat as “that transgender.”
Earhardt further suggested that Hallquist only won the race because she had little competition, despite facing three challengers in the primary.
“That transgender beat a 14-year-old!” the anchor said, referencing high school student Ethan Sonneberg. “They didn’t have an age limit, so the 14-year-old said, ‘I’m going to run!’ Ran in the primary, didn’t win.”
Earhardt apologized for the remark, saying that she “never, ever meant anything derogatory,” but not before her comments went viral on Twitter. “Her name is Christine Halquist,” responded former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton, while Dictionary.com corrected the broadcaster.
“Transgender is an adjective, not a noun,” the website claimed, in a tweet which has been liked more than 4,300 times.
But if the disproportionate violence faced by trans people or Hallquist’s own treatment on Fox News wasn’t an indication she does not enjoy so-called “transgender privilege,” a glance at her Twitter timeline may further disabuse critics of that notion. Trolls called Hallquist a “psycho woman,” “mentally insane,” and an “atypical nutcase psychopathic politician” following the Carlson segment.
“Can you really look at your face in the mirror every morning when you shave?” claimed Twitter user @Libeccio42 on Wednesday. “I doubt it!!!”
“We also tolerate radical mental Illness, the fact you’re not institutionalized is testiment [sic] to that fact,” added @LibertyRanger. “Embrace our tolerance as it far exceeds anything you are capable of.”
“All we need, a pedo freak trying to tell everyone normal how we should live,” said @Psycotic70.
After her historic 26-point win on Tuesday, Hallquist will face off against Republican Gov. Phil Scott in the November general election. Real Clear Politics counts Scott a heavy favorite in the progressive state, but as INTO previously noted, the once-popular incumbent’s poll numbers have eroded in recent months.