Christine Rosen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joined Chicago’s Morning Answer to discuss Delaware Congressman Sarah McBride’s remarks to children about gender identity and the broader implications of transgender ideology in American life. Rosen said McBride’s claim that the classroom message was merely about “kindness” was disingenuous and reflective of a wider trend of using tolerance as a political weapon.
“Americans are generally a tolerant people,” Rosen said. “But what’s happening now is that activists equate disagreement with bigotry. If you challenge their claims about biology, you’re called intolerant. That’s not persuasion—that’s coercion.”
Rosen argued that the push to normalize transgender ideology among children undermines common sense and biological reality. She pointed to cases like the Minnesota Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing a male powerlifter to compete in women’s events and the controversy surrounding collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas as evidence of growing public frustration. “People can see it with their own eyes,” Rosen said. “It’s not fair, and it’s putting women’s safety and opportunities at risk.”
She added that most Americans are willing to live and let live but reject the demand for special privileges that compromise privacy and fairness. “Tolerance doesn’t mean accepting someone else’s version of reality,” Rosen said. “It means treating people with respect while maintaining boundaries that protect others’ rights and safety.”
Rosen also discussed her recent Commentary magazine essay on political violence, citing the case of Nicholas Roske—the man who plotted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She criticized a federal judge for giving Roske a reduced sentence after he claimed to be transitioning to female, calling it “a perversion of justice and a capitulation to ideology.”
“When a judge embraces radical identity claims to justify leniency for someone who planned to murder a Supreme Court justice, that’s dangerous,” Rosen said. “It tells violent offenders that gender identity can be used as a shield. That’s not equality before the law—it’s bias masquerading as compassion.”
Rosen said such cases reveal a broader collapse of seriousness on the left regarding violence and accountability. “We’re watching judges and politicians elevate ideology above justice,” she warned. “That’s not tolerance. That’s the corruption of our institutions in the name of progress.”