Bruce Jenner opened up about his transition to live as as a woman in an explosive interview with Diane Sawyer, but perhaps one of the most surprising revelations from the interview is that Jenner is a Republican.

Bruce Jenner Says He’s A Conservative Republican

Throughout the 2-hour special, Sawyer maintained relatively neutral reactions in the face of Jenner’s many revelations about his transgender identity, but the journalist couldn’t help but express her surprise when Jenner told her he was a Republican. After crediting President Obama for being the first President to say the word “transgender” at the State of the Union, Jenner said that, while he commends the President for that action, he leans more towards the Conservative.

“Did you cheer the President? First president ever to say the word?” Sawyer asked.

“I will certainly give him credit for that, but not to get political, I’ve just never been a big fan – I’m kind of more on the Conservative side,” Jenner responded.

“Are you a Republican?” asked an incredulous Sawyer.

Jenner laughed awkwardly, and responded, “Yeah! Is that a bad thing? I believe in the Constitution.”

Sawyer backtracked a bit, saying that her shock didn’t stem from a disapproval of the Republican Party, but surprise that Jenner might feel accepted by the Republican Party. Jenner said that he full heartedly believed the Republican Party would accept him as he is now, and when he publicly emerges as ‘her.’ (Jenner has not yet revealed his female moniker and continues to be referenced by male pronouns.) When asked if he would approach Republican leaders, such as John Boehner, and ask them to champion for transgender rights, Jenner said he would.

“I would do that, yeah, in a heartbeat, why not? And I think they’d be very receptive to it,” he said, positively.

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Jenner may be confident that the Republican Party will accept him with open arms, but others on Twitter weren’t so sure.

On Monday, TMZ caught up with Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah to ask about his thoughts on Jenner’s interview. Chaffetz said that, as a Republican, he would take any political support he could find in California and added, “Hey, he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do. I’m not going to sit around and judge him…. It’s his life, he can do what he wants.”

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.