Tim Sheehy said that the GOP must do more to attract these “single-issue” female voters
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Tim Sheehy on Aug. 9, 2024
A Republican Senate candidate for a key race that could decide which party controls the upper chamber is coming under fire after he was caught on tape for calling women under the age of 25 “indoctrinated” for supporting reproductive rights.
In the audio recordings, which were obtained by the Daily Montanan, Republican Tim Sheehy said that the GOP must do more to attract these “single-issue” female voters.
Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL from Minnesota who relocated to Montana in 2014 and is locked in a competitive race with Democratic Sen. John Tester, acknowledged that Democrats are beating Republicans at the “ground game” on the issue of abortion.
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According to the paper, Sheehy repeatedly said that it was legal to kill infants after an abortion —even after they were born — which has been frequently debunked. Former President Donald Trump has continued to push the same claim, including in his Sept. 10 debate with Kamala Harris.
“Murder is the official position of the American Democratic Party,” Sheehy said.
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In an email obtained by PEOPLE, Montana Democrats said, “Sheehy’s comments reflect his plans to put politicians in charge of Montana women’s health care decisions.”
The recordings also showed the Republican calling for cuts to the federal government, including the Department of Education, and calling Tester a “dyed in the wool Socialist.”
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In an interview with Fox News on Sept. 20, Sheehy said that the tapes originally published by the Char-Koosta News were edited. He claimed that the outlet “chop[ped] them and [made] them sound, you know, evil or [made] me sound, you know, like somebody I’m not.”
However, per an investigation conducted by the Daily Montanan, they found “no evidence of the tapes being manipulated.”
Control of the Senate, meanwhile, could come down to the firmly Republican state of Montana, where Tester has defied the odds since 2006, securing three consecutive terms in Congress.
Now the moderate Democrat, 68, is considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent running for reelection in 2024. Though the farmer and former music teacher has enjoyed high approval ratings for most of his tenure, today’s hyper-partisanship puts him in a trickier spot with conservative voters.
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