Tim Sheehy, the Republican Social gathering’s Senate nominee in Montana, was caught on a lately surfaced audio recording arguing that girls have been “indoctrinated” to have pro-abortion-rights views. Sheehy’s feedback echo rhetoric from different Republican candidates minimizing the significance of the abortion difficulty forward of this fall’s election.
“Young people—listen up, they’ve been indoctrinated for too long. We don’t even try to talk to them anymore,” Sheehy mentioned. He went on to complain that after chatting with a gaggle of younger individuals, “[Y]oung women between the age of 19 and 30, abortion is their No. 1 concern. That’s all they want to talk about. They are single-issue voters.”
Within the recording, which was made in 2023, Sheehy additionally repeated the false Republican declare that Democrats help abortion after start, noting, “It’s called murder. That is the position of the American Democrat Party.”
Sheehy is locked in a detailed race towards Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, who has held the seat since 2007 and helps abortion rights. Montana’s Senate seat may decide which celebration holds a majority after the November election.
“My opponent called young women ‘indoctrinated’ for caring about their freedom to make their own decisions,” Tester mentioned in an Instagram submit on Monday. “Tim Sheehy believes Montana women can’t think for themselves. I think that’s total bull. Women know their health and their bodies better than any out-of-state millionaire.”
Sheehy’s feedback comply with within the footsteps of different Republicans operating this yr who’ve tried to search out their approach round their unpopular anti-abortion views.
Bernie Moreno, who’s looking for the Ohio Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, mentioned in a lately launched video that it’s “crazy” for ladies over age 50 to be involved with abortion rights.
In Wisconsin, Eric Hovde is operating towards Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and in 2012, he advised reporters he was “totally opposed” to abortion. Nonetheless, confronted with elections the place pro-abortion-rights candidates have triumphed—together with in Wisconsin—Hovde now claims he favors the “right to make a choice.”
Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, finest identified for selling pro-Trump election conspiracies, praised an 1864 state regulation that banned all abortion, calling it a “great law” when she was operating for governor in 2022. However when the state introduced again the ban after the conservative Supreme Courtroom gutted the protections afforded by Roe v. Wade, Lake argued that the laws was “out of step” with the state. This yr, Lake is operating towards Rep. Ruben Gallego for a Senate seat.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is being challenged by Republican David McCormick. When operating for workplace in 2022, McCormick mentioned he opposed abortion rights, however now he claims that there must be “common ground” on the subject. Casey backs laws to codify Roe v. Wade in federal regulation.
In Nevada, Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown beforehand supported an abortion ban that didn’t include exceptions for victims of rape or incest. Nonetheless, in his race towards Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, Brown has tried to argue that he’s personally against abortion rights however that the difficulty is a state difficulty and wouldn’t play a task in federal laws.
The argument is much like the one made by Donald Trump, however the destruction of Roe has led to Republican-led legislatures setting up extreme abortion bans, which have endangered lives.
A Republican majority within the Senate would stop the passage of laws to revive Roe protections and will imply help for a federal abortion ban, which officers like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have beforehand proposed.
Along with trying to maneuver round abortion, Republican candidates have been making unusual statements on points regarding girls.
Trump referred to himself as a “protector” of girls, at the same time as his actions have compelled girls to present start to youngsters born from rape and incest. His operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, infamously referred to high-profile Democrats as “childless cat ladies” and has gone on at size concerning the supposed inferiority of girls who haven’t given start.
Additional down the ticket, Lake has repeatedly mentioned that girls are “not equal” to males, and in a remark from 2016, Hovde mentioned girls “spend too much time with what’s going on in Hollywood” versus present occasions.
In a dialogue about political ways, Sheehy mentioned, “People ask me, how do you fight back? Number one, I can’t, because it’s like, if you’re not a rapist, how do you prove you’re not a rapist? I can’t prove it, it’s impossible.”
Republicans have traditionally had a tough time convincing girls to vote for them. In 2020, 57% of girls voted for Joe Biden. And the celebration’s present slate of candidates doesn’t appear to be serving to to enhance the chances.
