Caitlyn Jenner on Faith, the Kardashians and Running for Office: 5 Highlights From Her Book Talk

The athlete, reality star and author addresses an array of questions about her life

By Samantha Schnurr Apr 26, 2017 2:41 PMTags
Caitlyn Jenner Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

Caitlyn Jenner has nothing to hide. 

As she told an audience at the 92nd Street Y community center in New York City Tuesday night, there are no more skeletons in her closet. Amid the release of her highly anticipated memoir, The Secrets of My Life, the 67-year-old American icon is sparing little detail about the moments that have shaped her wide-ranging life with the goal of living as her most authentic self.  

She sat down with friend, colleague and fellow trans woman Jennifer Finney Boylan for an open discussion about gender and identity. In the process, the women explored an array of topics, ranging from Jenner's relationship with religion to her relationships with the Kardashians. Here are the highlights: 

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Caitlyn Jenner's Family Photos

1. She'd consider a run for office. 

As a Republican, Jenner has come under fire for her initial support of President Donald Trump from the LGBT community. However, she made it clear that her priority is not the party. 

"My loyalties are not with the Republican Party. My loyalties are not with Donald Trump," she declared. "I will come after him and come after Republicans if they start screwing up with my community."

In the next year or two, Jenner said she would even consider running for office if that is how she thinks she would be more effective. 

"Would I be better working from the inside? Then, if that is the case, another year or two, I would seriously look at a run."

2. She was broke while training for the Olympics. 

Jenner recalled training six to eight hours a day, 365 days a year to prepare for the games. At the time, she was living on $10,000 a year, driving a $175 1963 VW Beetle and paying $145 a month in rent. 

"That was the only payment I had," she said. 

While she did famously win the 1976 Olympic decathlon, Jenner remembered later standing in front of a mirror naked with the gold medal around her neck and thinking, "What do I do now?"

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3. Marriage was a distraction.

Before transitioning, Jenner married three women and raised six children and four stepchildren. During the event, Jenner said she realized marriage had been a distraction from accepting her true self. 

"It was a distraction from who I was," she recalled assuring her children later on. "I loved being a parent, I loved carpool. I loved raising my kids...but all that was a distraction from myself."

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4. She spoke to her pastor before making the decision to transition. 

As a Christian, Jenner said she still goes to Church often, believes in God and faith. However, that relationship made her wrestle with her identity. 

"To me, my faith played a very big role in what I'm doing," she said. "Growing up, I would think to myself, 'Why did God put all these questions in my head?'"

As she was making her final decision about transitioning, she had a long conversation with her pastor. 

"In the end, when I talk about faith, the last person besides my family, my close friends...the last hurdle I had to get over to know I was doing the right thing in transitioning was my faith and with God." 

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5. She finds Kris Jenner's criticism disappointing.

The book has ignited a bit of back and forth between Jenner and her third wife, particularly because she discusses details of their marriage and separation in the book. Recently, Kris said "everything she says is all made up."

"Why does everything have to be that Kris is such a bitch and an a--hole?" she said in a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. "I've never been so angry and disappointed in somebody in my whole life. I'm done."

When asked about Kris' reaction, Caitlyn said there's a lot of nice things about Kris in the book. 

"It's disappointing. I wish she hadn't have gone there," Caitlyn said. 

Ultimately, she accepts that she has her opinion and Kris has hers. 

"She can go write her own book...but it wouldn't be as juicy as mine."