Overview

• A clip from Ezra Klein’s podcast with Ta-Nehisi Coates went viral in which Klein said many Americans’ views on transgender issues are “fundamentally and morally wrong.”
• The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson used the clip to argue the left lacks a “theory of mind” for conservatives and alleged it relies on “the brute application of force.”
• Davidson’s essay tied the exchange to a canceled Federalist Society event at NYU Law and an alleged assault on a right-wing reporter in Portland that he said police ignored.
• The Daily Caller’s Nino Chávez said the episode shows Democrats are out of touch, linking liberal rhetoric to reactions to Charlie Kirk’s killing and to claims of rising left-wing violence.
• A liberal blog countered that neither Klein nor Coates endorsed violence, describing conservative portrayals of the conversation as mischaracterizations focused on political messaging.