Nikki Haley takes aim at MAGA Senate candidate over highly controversial comments about women over 50 and abortions

Former governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley and others criticized Republican Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno for controversial comments he made about women over 50 and abortion.

Video taken Friday from a Warren County town hall shows the Republican candidate for Senate in the close race talking about how suburban women only want to vote on one issue.

“You know the left has a lot of voters who vote on one issue. Unfortunately, by the way, there are a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women who think, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t get an abortion in this country whenever I want, I’m going to vote for somebody else,'” Moreno said.

“Okay, a little crazy, but especially for women over 50 — I think to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s a problem for you,’” he continued.

The 57-year-old businessman is now facing criticism for his statements, including from some prominent Republicans.

“Trying to lose the election? Asking for a friend. #Tonedeaf #DonLemonVibes,” Haley wrote on X.

Her hashtag referenced former CNN host Don Lemon, who said on the air last year that Haley, 51, was past her prime. He later expressed regret for his words.

“I don’t know. Maybe women over 50 care about their daughters? Or younger women in general? Or personal freedom?” wrote anti-Trump Rep. Bill Kristol in response to Moreno on X.

In a town hall video, Moreno said of women who vote only for abortion: “Okay, a little crazy, but especially for women over 50. I think to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s a problem for you.'”

Moreno, who has the backing of Donald Trump, is locked in a neck-and-neck race for Senate against incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a state that has voted Republican in a series of recent state elections.

Moreno’s campaign responded to criticism of his comments in a statement, saying he was joking.

“Bernie 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 women voters care about is abortion,” spokesman Reagan McCarthy wrote.

“Bernie believes that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime, and our open southern borders as male voters do. It’s disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media continually treat all women as if they automatically vote for abortion and have no other issues to vote for,” she added.

Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is in a neck-and-neck race with GOP challenger Bernie Moreno. He said in response to Moreno’s comments, “As a man over 50, I care deeply about a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions — for my daughters, my granddaughters and all women in Ohio, regardless of age.”

But Democrats seized on his comments. Senator Brown responded immediately in a statement that referenced Ohio voters who last year approved an amendment protecting abortion access.

“Bernie Moreno has shown us once again who he is and that he thinks he knows better than the 57 percent of Ohioans who have spoken out clearly on this issue,” Brown said.

“The people of Ohio believe that women should have the power to make their own health care decisions. Bernie Moreno believes that he should have that,” he added.

Brown and Moreno are locked in a neck-and-neck race for the Senate, which could help give them a majority in the Senate.

The latest poll in the race by ActiVote shows Moreno ahead of Brown by just over two points among likely voters. The margin of error in the poll is 4.9 percent.

According to the Real Clear Politics poll average, Brown is ahead by more than three points, but the most recent poll was from earlier in the month.