Mike Johnson says 'a man cannot become a woman' after attempted ‘gotcha’ question about incoming trans rep

House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he was "not going to get into" a question about the sex of incoming freshman Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress. He clarified later and said, “A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.”

Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning when asked whether McBride, a trans-identified male, was a man or woman, "Look, I'm not going to get into this. We welcome all new members with open arms who are duly elected representatives of the people. I believe it's a command we treat all persons with dignity and respect, we will. And I'm not going to engage in silly debates about this."

He said that there were concerns about bathroom and locker rooms, adding, "This is an issue that Congress has never had to address before. We're going to do that in a deliberate fashion with member consensus on it, and we will accommodate the needs of every single person."

When asked whether Johnson plans on bringing Rep Nancy Mace’s bill to ban biological males from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol, Johnson said, "I’m not going to address the plans on any of that. I just told you what I'm going to say about the issue, I'm not going to engage in this." He later added, "We'll provide appropriate accommodation for every member of Congress."

Johnson later clarified his comments to the press, saying, "I was asked a question this morning at the leadership gaggle, and I rejected the premise because the answer is so obvious."

"For anybody who doesn't know my well-established record on this issue, let me be unequivocally clear, a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman. That said, I also believe — that's what scripture teaches, what I just said — but I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity, and so we can do and believe all those things at the same time. And I wanted to make that clear for everybody, because there's lots of questions, but that's where I stand. I've stood there my whole life. And those are facts.”