Comments from Ohio鈥檚 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate are being blasted by critics, though his campaign has said they were "a tongue-in-cheek joke".
At a meeting in Southwest Ohio with his supporters over the weekend, northeast Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno talked about women and abortion. An attendee at the event recorded his comments and shared them with Columbus TV station WCMH,
鈥淵ou know, the left has a lot of 鈥榮ingle issue鈥� voters. Sadly, by the way, there鈥檚 a lot of suburban woman, a lot of suburban women that are like, 鈥榣isten, abortion is it. If I can鈥檛 have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else,鈥欌�� Moreno said. 鈥淥k. A little crazy by the way. But, especially for women that are like past 50, I鈥檓 thinking to myself, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 an issue for you.鈥欌��
As some in the crowd laughed, Moreno added, 鈥淥h, thank God my wife didn鈥檛 hear that one.鈥�
But as the tape has come to light, a lot of people weren鈥檛 laughing, including Dr. Lauren Beene with Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights.
鈥淚t鈥檚 disrespectful and it shows that he just doesn鈥檛 understand this issue,鈥� Beene said.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown shared Moreno's comments on social media, writing: "You know what鈥檚 crazy鈥� Bernie Moreno thinking he knows better than 57% of Ohioans who voted to protect abortion rights last year."
In a statement, Moreno's spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said: "Bernie was clearly making a tongue-in-cheek joke about how Sherrod Brown and members of the leftwing media like to pretend that the only issue that matters to women voters is abortion. Bernie's view is that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime, and our open southern border as male voters do and its disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the leftwing media constantly treat all women as if they're automatically single issue voters on abortion who don't have other concerns that they vote on."
Republican political strategist Bob Clegg defended Moreno鈥檚 comments, saying the candidate is focused on the economy, inflation and immigration.
鈥淭hose are the issues that voters not only here in Ohio but nationwide care about the most,鈥� Clegg said. 鈥淚 think that was the point he was trying to get across and he just did it in an inartful way.鈥�
But the issue of abortion has been a sticky one for Republicans as many of them, including former President Donald Trump, have sent mixed messages about where they stand on the contentious issue and whether they support a national ban. Ohio is among several Republican states that have passed amendments guaranteeing abortion rights.
