Republican Candidate in Montana Senate Race Claims Young Women Are Being ‘Indoctrinated’ on Abortion
In a recent recording unearthed by The Char-Koosta News, a newspaper on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, Republican candidate Tim Sheehy made controversial remarks accusing young women of being “indoctrinated” into becoming “single-issue voters” on abortion. Sheehy, a former US Navy Seal, is running against Democratic incumbent Jon Tester for one of Montana’s highly contested Senate seats, which could potentially decide control of the chamber.
During a campaign stop at the Big Sky Motel in Superior, Montana in September 2023, Sheehy was reported to have said, “Listen, they’ve been indoctrinated for too long. I sat with a group of younger folks a couple of months ago, and one of them was life. Because of course, young women between the ages of 19 and 30, abortion is their number one concern. That’s all they want to talk about. They are single-issue voters. It’s all about pro-choice, pro-choice.”
Sheehy went on to claim that when he explained the Democrats’ position on abortion to these voters, characterized as supporting “murder,” their attitudes changed. He also repeated the false claim that Democrats support federally funded abortions up to and including the moment of birth, falsely equating it to murder.
In response to Sheehy’s allegations of misleading edits by The Char-Koosta News, the newspaper released the full recordings of the event. Aside from his controversial remarks on abortion, Sheehy also made disparaging comments about Montana’s indigenous Crow people, alleging that they were often intoxicated early in the morning and even claimed they had thrown beer cans at him.
A spokeswoman for Sheehy’s campaign, in a statement to the New York Times, reiterated his pro-life stance with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. The statement also criticized Tester for various issues such as inflation, home prices, and security at the southern border.
The Independent reached out to Sheehy’s campaign for comment on the matter. The contentious remarks made by Sheehy have sparked criticism and raised concerns about his views and campaign strategies in the ongoing Senate race in Montana.