Bernie Moreno Attacks Ohio Women Over Abortion: ‘Little Crazy’

Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee for the Senate in Ohio, has sparked a backlash after calling it “a little crazy” that some women voters in the state cite abortion as their top issue in the 2024 election.
“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters,” Moreno said during a town hall on Friday, according to a video obtained by NBC4. “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.'”
Moreno also questioned why older women were concerned about abortion access. He said: “It’s a little crazy by the way, but—especially for women that are like past 50. I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”
His race against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is one of the most closely watched Senate battles, as the state offers a prime opportunity for Republicans to pick up a seat and regain a Senate majority in November. Polling shows the race remains close.
Meanwhile, abortion is a top issue in November’s election, two years after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and ended the right to abortion.
Most Republican-controlled states have passed abortion restrictions since then, but abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats with voters in all seven states—including Ohio—that have had abortion questions on the ballot siding with abortion rights supporters.
Former president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe, but has sought to present himself as moderate on abortion and distanced himself from a national abortion ban as the issue became a political liability for Republicans.
Just over half of voters said abortion is “very important” to their vote in a Pew Research Center survey last month. Two-thirds of those who support Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, said the issue was “very important” to their vote, while more than a third of those supporting Trump said the same.
Brown shared video of Moreno’s comments on X.
“You know what’s crazy… Bernie Moreno thinking he knows better than 57% of Ohioans who voted to protect abortion rights last year,” he wrote.
Reagan McCarthy, a spokesperson for Moreno campaign, told NBC4 that Moreno was “clearly making a tongue-in-cheek joke about how Sherrod Brown and members of the left-wing media like to pretend that the only issue that matters to women voters is abortion.”
The spokesperson said that his 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 it’s disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing 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.”
Newsweek has contacted the Moreno campaign for comment via its website. The Brown campaign has also been contacted via email.
Many took to social media to criticize Moreno for his comments.
Ohio State Representative Allison Russo, a Democrat, wrote that Moreno said “the quiet part out loud, mocking women as ‘a little crazy’ for wanting to make our own health care decisions. He also clearly doesn’t care that 57% of Ohio voters think these decisions are none of his damn business.”
Journalist Victoria Brownworth wrote that the remarks were the “clearest indicator Bernie Moreno, like Trump and Vance, is completely out of touch with a critical voting bloc.
“Many over 50 women fought for abortion rights. I have friends in their 70s who think this is THE most important issue. Also, we have kids, nieces, friends, colleagues, students who are young women.”
Bill Kristol, a conservative political commentator, wrote: “I dunno Perhaps women past 50 care about their daughters? Or about younger women in general? Or about personal freedom?”