BOSTON — The Democratic primary between Sen. Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton gained national attention as the two progressives battled over the summer months, so much so that President Donald Trump is chiming in on Markey’s landslide victory.

Trump praised Markey’s dominant performance on Tuesday, where he pulled in 64.8% of the vote to Moulton’s 25.2%, according to the latest results from the Associated Press. The president said that he “couldn’t stand Mouton” during a speech at the Rose Garden Dinner at the White House Wednesday night.

“I saw Markey, Senator Markey. I’m glad Markey won over Moulton. I couldn’t stand Moulton, I couldn’t. I mean, Markey I wouldn’t say loves Trump, but Moulton was so bad. And it was nice to see Markey won in a landslide,” Trump said to those attending the dinner, going on to slam Markey and Moulton’s stance on allowing transgender men to play in girls’ and women’s sports.

“But I saw Markey doing a debate saying ‘Yes, I want men to play in women’s sports.’ So, they’re still really into that. And I hope they continue, because it’s got to be about a 99-1. You know, they say it’s an 80-20 issue. I think it’s really a 99 to 1 issue. I know the Speaker, our great Speaker, wants them to continue onward,” Trump continued. “So, I said to him, I said, Mike, let’s tell them, guys, don’t even talk about it until about a week or two before the election. Because if they ever change, it’s not good. But they want transgender for everybody. They want the sexual mutilation of your children. It’s hard to believe.”

Markey and Moulton sparred over the trans sports issue, specifically over Moulton’s 2024 comments where he stated that he doesn’t want his daughters “getting run over on the playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.” He was criticized nationally by Democrats, including the state Democratic party, for the comments. He originally defended his opinion before later walking the comments back.

“Let me be clear to anyone out there listening tonight, anyone in the LGBTQ community or anyone else: I stand with you because I’ve always stood with you. And I have seen the pain that you are going through because of this hateful Trump administration,” Moulton said in a July 8 debate with Markey on WWLP-TV. “I have your back because I’ve always had your back and I will have them in the future.”

Markey capitalized on Moulton’s comments throughout the campaign, even using the LGBTQ pride flag as the background for a majority of his campaign materials and promoting his “Trans Bill of Rights,” promising to get the legislation passed if Democrats take the Senate back this election cycle.

“There’s a clear difference between my record and Congresswoman Moulton’s,” Markey responded. “After the 2024 election, Congressman Moulton decided that he was going to throw trans kids under the bus, the political bus, and blame them for the loss of the 2024 election. Those kids are vulnerable. Those kids need love. Those kids don’t need to be scapegoated and blamed for what was wrong with the Democratic Party.”

With no real political differences between them, the two candidates resorted to mudslinging, while primarily resorting to criticizing Trump and congressional Republicans during their respective campaigns.

The 80-year old Markey will face off against Republican John Deaton and Communist Joe Tache in the general election in November.

The Herald has reached out to both Markey and Moulton for comment.

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