MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow responded on-air to recent comments from Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat, mocking women over 50 for being concerned about abortion.
“Wow,” Maddow responded. “Good luck, sir.”
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Trump-endorsed frontrunner Bernie Moreno’s rep claims the profile was set up as a “prank.”
Moreno, a wealthy car dealer trying to unseat incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown, made his comment at a state town hall event last Friday night when the issue turned to reproductive rights.
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“You know, the left has a lot of single-issue voters,” the Trump-endorsed candidate said in the video obtained and aired by the local news station WCMH in Columbus. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK. It’s a little crazy, by the way, but — especially for women that are, like, past 50.”
As Moreno’s Republican audience breaks into laughter, he continued, “I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’”
“Oh, thank God my wife didn’t hear that one,” he sheepishly added.
Maddow, 51, was slacked-jawed with the pronouncement and called it “shocking.”
“That tape just in from Lebanon, Ohio,” the out journalist shared with her audience. “Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying any woman over 50 doesn’t have any reason to support reproductive rights. ‘Abortion rights, you kidding? Because, you know, women over 50, I’m thinking to myself,’ — he actually says it — ‘I’m thinking to myself, that’s not an issue for you.”
“Wow,” said Maddow, wide-eyed. “You know, unluckily for Bernie Marino in Ohio, running against Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, women in Ohio — even women over 50 —apparently, do still have the right to vote, even if he doesn’t think they have a right to an opinion.”
“Good luck, sir,” she added, head still spinning. “Amazing.”
Moreno’s dismissal of reproductive rights follows a vote last year to amend Ohio’s constitution to guarantee the right to abortion and reproductive freedom. Fifty-seven percent of voters approved the measure.
Maddow wasn’t the only 50-something observer appalled with Moreno’s comments.
“Are you trying to lose the election?” asked one-time Republican candidate for president and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on X. “Asking for a friend.”
The Trump administration alum added the hashtags “#Tonedeaf” and “#DonLemonVibes” to a quote of Moreno’s comment.
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