GOP Senate Candidate Thinks Young, 'Pro-Choice' Women Are Stupid

In one of the most competitive and high-stakes Senate races in the country, businessman Tim Sheehy is running to oust incumbent Montana Democrat Jon Tester. Sheehy, an unrepentant anti-abortion extremist, has a record of putting his foot in his mouth. In July, he compared himself to a falsely accused rapist (???) after Tester criticized him for his lack of qualifications, and, at the Montana Senate debate last week, he said we need abortion bans in order to protect the next, unborn Albert Einstein (I repeat: ???). Yet, in newly unearthed audio from a campaign event in 2023, Sheehy still managed to top himself. 

In the audio, first reported by the Daily Montanan and independently reviewed by Jezebel, Sheehy disparages young women voters—specifically, those ages 19 to 30—for caring about abortion rights, and repeats Donald Trump's heinous lie that abortion includes the execution of born, living babies. "Young people, listen up, they’ve been indoctrinated for too long. We don’t even try to talk to them anymore," Sheehy says. "I sat with a group of younger folks a couple of months ago talking about, just, various issues. And one of them was life, because of course young women between the age of 19 and 30, abortion is their Number One concern. That’s all they want to talk about. They are single-issue voters."

"And it’s all about pro-choice, pro-choice. ‘Republicans are pro-life. They want to take my rights away and lock me up and throw me in prison.’ And I said, well, are you familiar with what the Democrats’ position is on abortion? ‘Yeah, they’re pro-choice. They’re protecting women,’” he continued. “It’s called murder. That is the position of the American Democrat Party.”

Republicans have been inexplicably doubling down on their "Democrats are executing babies" talking point this election cycle. In Florida, Sen. Rick Scott (R), who’s also facing a competitive reelection race, has repeatedly lied that Democrats “want to have abortion up until the moment before a baby, a nine-month term, by crushing a baby’s skull,” and that they would “allow a healthy baby born alive to just cry itself to the death in the corner by starving itself to death.” It’s nonsense, and also painfully ironic after the first two confirmed maternal deaths caused by abortion bans were reported by ProPublica last month.

Sheehy’s comments about young women, in particular, exude the same condescension and misogyny as comments from fellow GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who’s running to oust Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio. In September, Moreno called women “a little bit crazy” and “single-issue voters” for caring about abortion rights. 

Interestingly, Republicans just can’t seem to get their story straight. While Sheehy and Moreno insist women voters are irrationally obsessed with abortion, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and JD Vance (R-Ohio), who’s also the GOP vice presidential nominee, have said women—especially suburban women—don’t actually care about abortion, and it’s a deceptive left-wing media narrative. Then Trump is doing his own thing, insisting that he’ll be such a great “protector” of women if reelected that we (women, that is!) will soon “no longer think about abortion."

My opponent called young women "indoctrinated" for caring about their freedom to make their own decisions.

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. pic.twitter.com/qgAw2imZmj

— Jon Tester (@jontester) October 7, 2024

If the stakes—whether Democrats will have a prayer of restoring reproductive rights or, at minimum, blocking Republicans’ anti-abortion extremism—weren’t so high, it would almost be comical. Pollsters predict women voters will play a pivotal role this election cycle, which is the first presidential election since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling in 2022. So, insinuating that they’re “crazy” or stupid for caring about the No. 1 issue of the election probably isn’t the best strategy.

And it’s certainly not a great strategy in a state like Montana, which, like Florida, is voting on an abortion rights ballot measure (Constitutional Initiative 28) in November. Even in a deep-red state like Montana, in 2022, voters defeated a convoluted anti-abortion ballot measure meant to add nonsensical restrictions to emergency, later abortion procedures. Yet, here Sheehy is, sounding off about how stupid we are for caring about whether the government can force us to give birth.

At the debate last week, Sheehy acknowledged that if CI 28 is successful, he’ll “respect it.” As Jezebel’s Susan Rinkunas wrote at the time, this is hardly reassuring: If Trump wins, what would Sheehy’s position be on the Trump administration wielding the Comstock Act to bypass Congress and ban abortion? Would Sheehy confirm judicial nominees who would uphold a national ban? “The bottom line is this: Whose decision is it to be made?” Tester said at the debate, in response. “Is it the federal government’s decision, the state government’s decision, Tim Sheehy’s decision, Jon Tester’s decision? No, it’s the woman’s decision. Tim Sheehy’s called abortion ‘terrible’ and ‘murder.’ That doesn’t sound to me like he’s supporting the woman to make that decision.”

On Monday night, Tester also responded to the leaked audio of Sheehy disparaging young women: “My opponent called young women 'indoctrinated' for caring about their freedom to make their own decisions. 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.”