Democrat Lawmaker on Bruce Jenner Transition: 'Is Caitlyn a Republican Too?'

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) came under fire Monday after questioning whether Bruce Jenner, who now wishes to be known as Caitlyn Jenner, is still a Republican.

After Jenner appeared for the first time as a women on the cover of this month’s issue of Vanity Fair, Cohen took to Twitter to ask his nearly 13,000 followers: “Bruce came out as a Republican last April. Well is Caitlyn Jenner a Republican too?”

In a widely-viewed interview last month with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, Jenner said that politically, he’s “always been more on the conservative side” and that he identifies as a Republican.

“Is that a bad thing?” Jenner asked Sawyer. “I believe in the Constitution.”

Cohen’s comment drew swift backlash from a number of Twitter users, with at least one claiming that if a Republican had made it, “MSNBC would [be] talking 24/7 about how bigoted it is.”

Jenner’s transition and subsequent Vanity Fair cover drew widespread support from a large number of celebrities, including family members Kim and Khloe Kardashian. Jenner also broke a Twitter record previously held by President Obama by reaching 1 million followers on the social media site in just four hours. It had taken the president five hours to accomplish the same feat last month.