Senator says Republican Party is big enough to include Caitlyn Jenner - Daily Mail

Sen. Tom Cotton, an emerging Republican leader, sees a GOP that's big tent enough to include members of the LGBT community, like reality star Caitlyn Jenner.

Cotton was presented with the question by the Atlantic's Steve Clemons who was interviewing the Arkansas senator from Cleveland today. 

'I think we want to appeal to every American of all stripes in all 50 states,' Cotton said. 

'Trans Americans?' Clemons prodded. 

''Gay, straight or trans Americans,' Cotton replied.  

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Sen. Tom Cotton, an emerging leader of the Republican Party, said today at an event at the Republican National Convention that the party is big enough to fit trans Americans like Caitlyn Jenner 

Caitlyn Jenner, a Republican, first supported Sen. Ted Cruz, but now likes Donald Trump after he voiced a more pro-trans position in regard to North Carolina's controversial bathroom bill 

Cotton's comments come at a heated time between the trans community and the GOP, as the party has largely backed North Carolina's House Bill 2, which mandates that people use the bathroom that aligns with the gender on their birth certificate. 

It's considered the most anti-trans legislation in the country. 

Enter Jenner who first expressed interest in backing Sen. Ted Cruz in the Republican primary, but then moved over to support the presumptive nominee Donald Trump, once the New York billionaire said trans Americans should 'use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.' 

Jenner gave Trump some good PR by heading over to the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan in April to test out the Republican's hospitality. 

'A trans woman in New York, I gotta take a pee. Anyways, Oh my God, Trump International Tower, I love this,' Jenner said in an online video. 

She was filmed walking into the women's room off Trump Tower's lobby and then coming out. 

'By the way, Ted, nobody got molested,' she said. 

Now Jenner plans to make her way to Cleveland this week to provide the Republican National Convention with some counterprogramming and with her presence one-ups the star power attending the convention itself. 

She's attending a 'Big Tent Brunch' Wednesday morning, hosted by several pro-LGBT rights Republican groups.  

Caitlyn Jenner will bring some star power to the Republican National Convention by appearing at an event outside the actual political confab, hoping to get the GOP more on board with LGBT rights 

Among the Republicans' 'showbiz' type speakers, Scott Baio and Antonio Sabato Jr. are the biggest names showing up.  

And while plenty of Cotton's Senate colleagues are skipping this year's convention, the Arkansan happily attended and defended Trump. 

At 39, he's the youngest member of the Senate, who is both a Harvard grad and a veteran and felt that Trump would do right for that group. 

Also, as a vice chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he suggested that the Republicans could retain the Senate with Trump at the top of the ticket, while appealing for a broader-based party. 

'Now it's clear that we don't always appeal to ever Republican in a state like, say, California,' Cotton said, name-dropping Jenner's home state. 'We've had some tough times even though it used to be a Republican state.' 

'But we want to be the party of all Americans,' Cotton continued. 'the Democrats over the last several decades has been a party that has been very eclectic and diverse group of voters, some of whom don't always share the same common themes, but they find a way to stick together in election after election.' 

'We as Republicans want to appeal to Americans as Americans, whether they be black, white or Hispanic, whether they be a man or a woman, we want to appeal to all Americans across a common set of concerns,' Cotton concluded.