Michael Bloomberg makes grovelling apology after calling trans people ‘it’
Mike Bloomberg has been criticised over a resurfaced video of him discussing trans rights. (Getty)
Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg has apologised for calling transgender people “it” and acknowledged that his words had “caused hurt”.
In a statement seen by NewNowNext, Bloomberg said he had met with trans people and with San Francisco mayor London Breed in order to understand the implications of his comments.
“It was a poor attempt to describe how some who oppose transgender equality think about this issue – and those words do not reflect my unwavering support for equality for transgender Americans,” Bloomberg said.
Michael Bloomberg offered ‘sincerest apologies’ for referring to transgender people as ‘it’.
“I want to offer my sincerest apologies to the members of the transgender community.”
Furthermore, he drew attention to the ongoing epidemic of violence trans people are facing in the United States, and said: “We need a president who will set the moral compass to ensure safety, respect and dignity for all trans people.”
He added: “As mayor, I signed a sweeping transgender civil rights bill and, as president, will promote policies that advance equality for transgender Americans who have been attacked by the Trump administration over the past three years.”
Bloomberg came under fire earlier this month when past comments about trans people resurfaced.
The candidate made the comments at a business forum in March of last year where he chided the Democrats for their focus on social issues, such as gender dysphoria.
We need a president who will set the moral compass to ensure safety, respect and dignity for all trans people.
He said that “you can understand where somebody like Trump comes from” and suggested that a candidate who vocally supports trans rights was someone bound to lose.
“If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’ can go to the locker room with their daughter, that’s not a winning formula with most people,” he said.
Bloomberg said at a March 2019 event that people care about health, education and safety, and slammed Democrats for a focus on trans issues.
“They care about health care, they care about education, they care about safety and all of those kinds of things. And some of these social issues… we’re focusing on a lot of things that have little relevance to people who are trying to live in a world that is changing because of technology, communications and things like that.”
He continued: “So you can understand where somebody like Trump comes from. You can understand – if you look at the Democratic Party, they are so far left that two years ago, there was nobody on their side that would take these positions.
“And today, virtually all of the candidates for president in the Democratic Party have been so progressive – I don’t know what progressive means, but they are in a place where some of the American public is. And it remains to be seen if the majority of the electorate is.”
Bloomberg was a firm supporter of LGBT+ rights while serving as New York City mayor and has said he hopes to carry that through to the White House with a “comprehensive policy to ensure LGBTQ+ equality”.
