Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday criticized recent statements by the Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio, in which he openly questioned why women “over 50” are concerned about reproductive rights.
Bernie Moreno, who is running in a neck-and-neck race against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), challenged older women’s emphasis on abortion as an issue that determines their votes during a City Council meeting on Friday.
“Unfortunately, by the way, there are a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women who think, ‘Look, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I’m going to vote for somebody else,'” he said.
“It’s a little crazy, by the way, but — especially for women over 50 — I think to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s a problem for you,’” Moreno added.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Haley argued that Moreno’s words could hurt him politically, as the GOP is banking on him winning the race as part of their plan to regain the majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
“Are you trying to lose the election?” Haley said. “I’m asking for a friend. #Tonedeaf #DonLemonVibes”
Haley’s post made an apparent reference to former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who called her “past her prime” after she called for “mandatory competency testing for politicians 75 and older.”
“I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime?” Lemon said in February 2023. “It says 20, 30, 40. And I’m just saying Nikki Haley needs to be careful about saying politicians are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they’re serving. Because according to Google or whatever, she’s not in her prime.”
A few months later, Lemon was fired from the network.
Reagan McCarthy, a spokesman for Moreno’s campaign, dismissed his comments as a joke and lashed out at “the left-wing media.”
“Bernie believes that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime, and our open southern border as male voters do, and it is disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media constantly treat all women as if they automatically vote for abortion and have no other concerns to vote for,” McCarthy said.
Abortion has repeatedly proven to be a winning issue for Democrats, as Republicans have pushed to further restrict access to the medical procedure after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Last year, Ohioans voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, a major victory for reproductive rights advocates.
