On Monday, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted Democrat Seth Moulton, the representative for Massachusetts’s 6th congressional district. This event was co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Tufts ACTION, the Tufts Federalist Society and the Tufts Democrats.
Moutlon was the subject of controversy this past fall for comments he made about transgender athletes. His remarks prompted calls for Tufts to cut ties with his office, which ultimately did not happen.
The event started with an unexpected demonstration demanding action from Democrats after the detention of Rümeysa Öztürk. Protesters repeatedly chanted the phrase “free Rümeysa, free them all.”
Patrick Collins, the executive director of media relations, released a statement to the media regarding the interruption.
“It is unclear if the participants in the disruption are Tufts students. We appreciate Rep. Moulton’s grace in dealing with the circumstances,” Collins wrote. “As is our practice, we are reviewing the incident and will hold accountable any student found to have engaged in conduct that violates university policy or the student code of conduct.”
During the event, moderator and Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut asked about the status of a letter sent by Moulton and his colleagues demanding answers about the arrest and detention of Öztürk.
Moulton said they had not received a response.
“Why have we not received a response? Because it’s completely unjustifiable,” Moulton said. “Because from the secretary of state on down, or, I should say the president on down, they have no justification for what they did.”
During President Donald Trump’s first term, Moulton was the first member of Congress to compare him to Hitler. He acknowledged that his comment received backlash, but he stressed the importance of speaking truth to power and went on to compare the detainment of Öztürk to the Gestapo.
Addressing his comment about trans athletes made in November, Moulton framed the controversy as an issue with cancel culture.
“There are a lot of issues like this that as Democrats, we’re not even able to talk about,” Moulton said. “And that was the point of my quote, right? It was not just about the rules for trans women in women’s sports. It was the point that, as a Democrat, I’m not even allowed to say that.”
First-year Tufts student Boden Wise agreed with Moulton’s points about the close-mindedness of those on both sides of the political aisle and the exclusionary attitude of the Democratic party.
“We cannot afford to be losing voters who do not check all the boxes,” Wise said. “And as someone who grew up in some very conservative places, I think that there are people who want to vote Democrat, want to support us, but the reality is we are ostracizing them because they don’t agree with us on every issue.”
Moulton spoke about the death threats his office frequently receives and the increase in political violence during Trump’s administration.
“It is a problem across the political spectrum. The same way the Democrats face these threats, I know Republicans do too,” Moulton said. “We need people to stand and do this job. And I think there’s a degree to which if you can’t take the heat, you gotta get out of the kitchen.”
Moulton said he was proud to be a part of “one of the few remaining bipartisan institutions in Washington D.C.,” which is the bipartisan workout group in the U.S. House of Representatives.
During these group workouts, he hears unfiltered opinions and conversations about the failures of the administration from Republicans who then go on television and tout their support for Trump.
He went on to address the dangers of cutting university funding. He urged students to not lose sight of core American values and morality.
Moulton reflected back on his days in college when students used to wash their own dishes. He gave this as an example of a sacrifice he made, encouraging students to make sacrifices to help their universities do the right thing in the face of a historic threat.
On a national level, Moulton mentioned an example where students can volunteer to help re-elect Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from one the reddest districts of Maine.
During the Q&A section, an audience member voiced concerns about whether there would even be a midterm election, drawing comparisons between Hitler and Trump and the actions by Germany’s parliament, which gave Hitler emergency powers in the 1930s.
Moulton said it was not that hard to imagine a majority Republican Congress giving Trump executive authority but urged people to stay vigilant and get Republicans to stand up for what’s right.
He added on, stating that two fundamental things Democrats need to be doing going forward are standing up to Trump and reforming their party.
“We’ve got to admit that we lost across the board in what should have been the easiest election of our lifetimes,” Moulton said.
Moulton ended the talk with a call to action for young Americans.
“America has never been a nation that’s gotten it all right, but we’ve always been a country that believes that we might — and we’ve always depended on volunteers to get us there,” he said. “This is a time when we need young Americans to stand up and volunteer to make our country better, to see us through this dark time and to live up to American values.”
