Breaking new reporting from Jezebel exposed MAGA extremist Sam Brown for “using his wife’s personal story as a smokescreen” for his extreme anti-abortion record – including falsely telling NBC News this was the first time they had shared their story publicly when they had actually “spoken about it at least three times before, often in opposition to reproductive freedom.”
Jezebel: Flip-Flopping GOP Candidate Claims His Wife’s Abortion Means He’ll Vote Pro-Choice
Susan Rinkunas
June 17, 2024
Key points:
- The Nevada Senate race in November could decide control of the chamber, so it’s no surprise that a conservative candidate is trying to triangulate on abortion despite their past public statements opposing bodily autonomy.
- Sam Brown, who won the Republican primary last week, says he is pro-life but also claims that, if elected, he would not vote for a national abortion ban.
- This is a pivot from his position before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade—when he said he would always protect life—and before he tried and failed to win the GOP nomination in 2022.
- Upon losing that race, he became president and chairman of Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition, an anti-abortion group. After announcing his second Senate run, Brown left the organization off his disclosure forms.
- After a decade of supporting abortion bans, Brown announced this change of heart during a February interview with NBC News. Brown and his wife Amy shared the story of her own abortion, which she got in Texas in 2008, months before they met.
- Brown said his wife’s abortion taught him that “we’ve got to lead with compassion.”
- This is misleading, and a reversal from the 2022 Senate campaign when he said “I’m pro life, and I always will stand on the side of protecting life.” During that campaign, he also left the door open to voting for a federal ban, saying in a primary debate: “If there were any sort of legislation that would come forward, I’d want to see that specific language.”
- The Associated Press also reported in March that it wasn’t the first time Brown “adjusted” his stance on abortion. In July 2021, Brown’s campaign website said it is “in our American interest that we protect the lives of unborn babies just as we would protect the life of any other American.” But that statement has since been removed.
- Now, Brown appears to be using his wife’s personal story as a smokescreen for his newfound position on abortion.
- The Browns also said the February interview was the first time Amy publicly shared her abortion story, but Amy’s spoken about it at least three times before, often in opposition to reproductive freedom. In October 2014, Amy recorded a video testimonial supporting Texas Bill HB2, the law at the center of Wendy Davis’ famous filibuster, which banned abortion after 20 weeks and shut down half the clinics in the state. In the video, which has not been previously reported, Amy called HB2 “an amazing step in the right direction.” Brown ran for a seat in the Texas Legislature in 2014 and supported the law, which lacked exceptions for rape or incest. Amy also wrote about her abortion in a 2014 blog post for Watermark Community Church and spoke about it during a 2021 podcast appearance in which she agreed with the male host that men should have input in women’s abortion decisions.
- Brown’s website says he would confirm judges “who understand the importance of protecting life.”
- Bottom line: Voters can’t trust Sam Brown to protect their rights, especially not if Trump wins.
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