California Representative Zoe Lofgren is a subscriber to the style Donald Trump claims to own: tough talk and true, tell-it-like-it-is argument. Except Lofgren employs her tough talk toward different aims. Instead of using her straight talk to encourage bigotry, as many accuse Trump of doing, Lofgren (D-Calif.) is using her platform to namecheck bigotry when she sees it.
On encountering the House Judiciary Committee testimony of Gail Heriot, who likened difficult gender identification issues to silly fantasies of being a princess, Lofgren let Heriot know that she “found this [characterization] rather offensive.” Lofgren wanted it put on the record that she challenged the value of Heriot’s testimony, saying the “witness really doesn’t know anything.” Heriot’s attempt at a response brought this from Lofgren: “I think you’re a bigot, lady, I think you are an ignorant bigot.” People who “don’t really know anything” are not apparently regarded as renegade savants in Lofgren’s world view.