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In a new interview with the Washington Examiner, MAGA Republican Tom Barrett tried to downplay his staunch anti-abortion record, claiming that reproductive rights won’t be an issue this November because his “opponent is not a woman.”
Despite his attempt to sidestep the issue, Barrett continued his anti-abortion tirade, calling Michigan’s constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights “pretty extreme.”
Barrett has been adamant about his staunch anti-abortion beliefs, including calling himself “100% PRO-LIFE – NO EXCEPTIONS” and supporting the 1931 Michigan law that would ban abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
In defending his extreme stance, Barrett said, “I know I’m right.”
DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
“You have to be a seriously out-of-touch politician if your main takeaway from Alabama’s disastrous IVF ruling is that abortion and reproductive rights won’t be an issue this November. Voters will continue to reject Tom Barrett at the ballot box because he is a threat to the reproductive freedoms Michiganders fought so hard to protect.”
Washington Examiner: Michigan Republican Tom Barrett seeks do-over in critical House race with one edge: ‘My opponent is not a woman’
Naomi Lim | February 23, 2024
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But with eventual winner Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a second-term incumbent, running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, Barrett is hoping the matter will be less politically charged now, particularly after the state constitutionally protected access to the procedure in 2022.
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During an hourlong interview with the Washington Examiner at his campaign headquarters in Lansing, Barrett, 42, downplayed the possibility to “ever replicate the intensity around the [abortion] issue that it had in 2022.”
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“Roe v. Wade had just been overturned, 50 years of precedent, and all of a sudden, we wake up the next day, and that’s not the case anymore,” Barrett said. “And then, at the same time, Michigan had this pending ballot, constitutional amendment, to ratify a pretty extreme pro-abortion standard in Michigan in our constitution.”
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Regardless, Democrats — including one-time state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., a declared candidate for Michigan’s 7th District — are preparing to criticize him for his abortion positions, especially his stance on a federal ban.
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Barrett is the only Republican who has announced a campaign for the 7th District, a central Michigan district anchored by Lansing and whose lines between Detroit and Grand Rapids were redrawn in 2022 because of post-2020 census redistricting. And with Hertel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer‘s (D-MI) former legislative director, the only declared Democrat, the pair’s primary posturing is a preview of their likely general election, considered a Democratic-leaning toss-up contest by prognosticators, such as the CookPoliticalReport. Their respective primaries are not until August.
- “My opponent is not a woman. He does not have the depth of resources that Slotkin had. The top of the ticket should be far more competitive. The abortion proposal, which dominated the race and every race in America seemingly two years ago, is not on the ballot in Michigan this year,” Barrett said.
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