Caitlyn Jenner, a Republican whose campaign for California governor has elicited an angry reaction from some members of the LGBTQ community, said Wednesday that "I move on" when it comes to her critics.
Her comment came during a one-on-one interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, which marked some of the first words in public since announcing nearly two weeks ago her candidacy in an expected recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
While discussing her place as a transgender role model, Jenner lamented the high suicide rate within the community and added, "For me to be a role model for them, to be out there. I am running for governor of the state of California, who would ever thunk that? We've never even had a woman governor."
But Hannity queried back: "But some are mad at you."
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Jenner shook her head and stumbled over her initial response. "I move on," Jenner said, according to short clips of the interview released by Fox.
Last weekend, Jenner witnessed an outcry from many in the transgender community after she told TMZ that she opposes transgender girls competing in girls' sports at school, calling it "a question of fairness".
During the interview, which took place at Jenner's private aeroplane hangar near Malibu, California, she also endorsed the border wall that was a signature project for former President Donald Trump.
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"We can't have a state, we can't have a country without a secure wall," Jenner said.
The 71-year-old Jenner — who won the men's Olympic decathlon in 1976 and decades later became a reality TV star and a transgender woman — announced her candidacy about two weeks ago in a written statement on Twitter. Since then, her campaign has been slow to unfold.
Prior to the interview, she has been active on Twitter and has posted a video and other materials on her website. Thus far, Jenner, who calls herself a "compassionate disrupter", has provided only a rough sketch of how she would manage the nation's most populous state.
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The taping took place in an exclusive area. Malibu is known as a playground for the wealthy, with sprawling mansions perched above the Pacific. It has about 12,000 mostly white residents, and the median value of homes is over $2 million, according to government statistics.
Her cautious steps into the campaign highlight the risks for a political newcomer who could be tripped up by a vast array of complex subjects, from immigration to tax policy to vaccine distribution.
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Advertise with NZME.The written statements and video released so far, which include shots of her Olympic competition and gold medal, appear intended to introduce Jenner's story to voters who might know little about her.
-AP
