To paraphrase one of Jack Nickelson’s most memorable lines: Democrats can’t handle the truth.
Virginia’s main Public Broadcasting outlet this week broke the news that the Department of Health and Human Services had changed the name under the portrait of one of the Biden administration’s most prominent to reflect the reality of biology.
And for one outspoken Democrat, it’s “culture war.”
Check out Rep. Becca Balint, Democrat of Vermont, spinning out over the change in a video the congresswoman posted to the social media platform X on Monday.
Democrat Rep. Becca Balint has a complete MELTDOWN after HHS changed Richard Levine’s name back to Richard from “Rachel.”
“They have gone back to remove her name and put her deadname in, all because they are so insecure about their own identities.”
Newsflash: Richard Levine is… https://t.co/4lgL21TSfd pic.twitter.com/NzImIXgE5G
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 8, 2025
The name change occurred during the government shutdown, according to VPM, when the identification under the Biden administration’s assistant secretary for health was changed from “Rachel Levine” to “Richard Levine.”
Levine is the “transgender woman” and former Pennsylvania health secretary who rocketed to national attention in March 2021 with an appointment by then-President Joe Biden to serve as the HHS assistant health secretary.
“Throughout my career, I have focused on the intersection between medical, mental and behavioral health,” Levine said at the time. “And as your ASH, I will continue that focus and support policy initiatives to improve Americans’ physical and mental well-being.”
Well, Americans could probably find better places to look for tips on mental and behavioral health than a man who decided as he reached middle age that he was actually a woman. (And that after a marriage that resulted in a son and a daughter.)
And it was as Biden’s assistant secretary for health — a four-star admiral in the Public Health Corps, no less — that Levine became a familiar face.
And to any American familiar with that face, it was pretty clear it was a man’s face. No feminine first name could change that. And no female-cut uniform was going to make that go away.
The fact that the former assistant health secretary spent time in national office warping federal policies to suit the transgender agenda doesn’t change that.
When contacted by VPM, an HHS spokesman was unapologetic about the change under the portrait.
“Our priority is ensuring that the information presented internally and externally by HHS reflects gold standard science. We remain committed to reversing harmful policies enacted by Levine and ensuring that biological reality guides our approach to public health.”
But for Balint, and leftists like her, a commitment to “biological reality” is a sign of insecurity.
“Admiral Levine was the highest-ranking trans woman in the Biden administration,” Balint said in the video. “And they have gone back to remove her name and put her dead name in.
“All because they are so insecure about their own identities that they have to lash out and continue to fan the flames of these culture wars.”
The rant was not well received in certain quarters.
Some serious projection here. It’s the man pretending to be a woman who has the identity problem.
— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) December 8, 2025
Richard is a man and has to go and get prostate checkups. He doesn’t go to an OB/GYN.
— Molly Pitcher (@AmericanMama) December 8, 2025
It isn’t a “dead name” it is a birth name, one chosen for him by his parents… live in reality – this man in WomanFace is cosplaying what he thinks a woman is and it’s insulting…
— Jacq (@JacqvanBlerk) December 8, 2025
As is typical for Democrats — especially the kind of Democrats who are committed to “transgender” insanity — Balint has it exactly wrong.
For starters, a “trans woman” is not a woman. A “trans woman” is a man who dresses like a woman. Pointing that out is not being “insecure.” It’s being factual.
And efforts to push back the tide of transgender policies that swamped the country under the benighted Biden administration are not “fanning the flames of these culture wars.”
They’re simply trying repair the damage Democratic culture wars inflicted.
The “biological reality” is that Levine was born a man and will die a man. The portrait name change reflects that truth.
But Democrats can’t handle the truth.
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