MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing referred to a Louisiana Republican's belief that there are only two genders as "incendiary" on Friday.
Jansing and her panel addressed the GOP's relationship with women and the LGBT community, in the aftermath of the Log Cabin Republicans, a national LGBT group, endorsing President Donald Trump for a second term.
"We've got an important question now," Jansing told viewers. "What does it mean to be a mainstream Republican? It is the question that some Republicans have been asking in the age of Donald Trump, and increasingly, it seems the answer might be to make incendiary comments about women and members of the LGBT community."
"In Louisiana, the Republican candidate for governor, Ralph Abraham, is out with a new TV ad this week making incendiary comments about gender," she added.
Rep. Ralph Abraham (R., La.), who is seeking the GOP nomination to challenge Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D.), released a TV ad where he laid out a series of his conservative positions, among them his medical assertion there are only two genders.
"Here's the truth," he said. "Life begins at conception. Government is too big. Our taxes are too high. And our car insurance is too expensive. President Trump is doing a great job. Facts matter more than feelings. The Second Amendment is self-explanatory. And as a doctor, I can assure you there are only two genders."
Our new #lagov TV ad starts today.
As your next governor, I will always tell you the truth.#Doc4Gov pic.twitter.com/jZOFVxpMJB
— Dr. Ralph Abraham (@DocAbraham) August 22, 2019
The notion that gender, as opposed to sex, exists on a spectrum has gained credence in recent years with progressives and many LGBT activists.
Some presidential candidates are even listing their preferred gender pronouns on their Twitter page; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), for instance, identified as a "cisgender female" with the pronouns she/hers. Cisgender refers to people identifying their gender with their birth sex.
A transgender person, on the other hand, identifies as the opposite sex from which they were born.