BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Tribal leaders in Montana urged Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy to apologize over remarks he made to supporters about Native Americans being “drunk at 8 a.m.” and throwing beer cans at him on the Crow Reservation
Audio recordings of Sheehy's derogatory comments were obtained and published by Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Sheehy is backed by former President Donald Trump as he challenges three-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in one of the most closely-watched congressional races in the nation.
A Republican victory could help swing control of the closely divided Senate.
Sheehy is heard commenting in one of the recordings that his ranching partner is a member of the Crow Tribe with whom Sheehy ropes and brands cattle on the tribe's southeastern Montana reservation.
“Great way to bond with all the Indians, to be out there while they're drunk at 8 a.m.,” Sheehy says.
In another recording, he describes riding a horse in the parade at Crow Fair, an annual gathering in Crow Agency that includes powwows, a rodeo and other events.
“If you know a tough crowd, you want to go to the Crow res," Sheehy says. “They let you know whether they like you or not — there's Coors Light cans flying by your head riding by."
The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, which represents 11 tribes and First Nations in the western U.S. and Canada, said Sheehy’s comments perpetuated stereotypes about Native Americans.
Council Chairman Bryce Kirk asked Sheehy to apologize in a Tuesday letter to the campaign obtained by The Associated Press.
“You ask for our votes and then you go to your fundraiser, ironically with alcohol flowing and laughter at our expense behind closed doors, and you insult us with a stereotype that only seeks to severely diminish and dishonor our people,” Kirk wrote. “The Crow people are not your punchline. Native Americans are not your punchline.”
It’s uncertain if Sheehy’s comments will still be on voters’ minds when they start casting ballots. But political analyst Paul Pope said their “unseemly” nature could spur more Native Americans to register to vote, which could boost Tester.
“Maybe there's some fence-sitters out there and this might be a tipping point for them,” added Pope, a professor at Montana State University Billings.
A Sheehy campaign spokesperson did not dispute the authenticity of the recordings, which the tribal newspaper said came from fundraising events held in Montana last November.
Sheehy is a former U.S. Navy SEAL with no previous political experience who moved to Montana a decade ago and founded an aerial firefighting company. He knows members of the Crow Tribe and visits the reservation to work cattle with them, said spokesperson Jack O'Brien.
“He works with them, he brands with them,” O'Brien said. “What folks are insinuating about him, that’s just not who he is."
He did not say if Sheehy would apologize or otherwise respond to the tribal leaders’ request.
Montana has seven Indian reservations and almost 70,000 Native Americans, representing about 7% of its total population, according to U.S. Census data. It’s a voting block that’s long been considered Democratic-leaning, but Montana Republicans in recent years have courted tribal leaders hoping to gain their support in elections.
Crow Tribe Chairman Frank White Clay did not immediately respond to a message left with his office seeking comment.
Tester’s campaign declined to comment on the matter.
White Clay and other Crow representatives attended a rally last month in Bozeman featuring Trump and Sheehy. White Clay told an AP reporter at the rally that their presence was not meant as an endorsement. He said the tribe wanted to maintain good relations with whatever administration holds office.
Char-Koosta News editor Sam Sandoval said Sheehy's campaign had not responded to his outlet's queries about the recordings, which he said came from a credible source who wanted the comments publicized in a tribal newspaper.
“For a lot of tribal people, having that statement out there, saying they're drunk at 8 o'clock in the morning, it really hits a sore spot that Natives have been working to change for years,” Sandoval said.
FILE - Tim Sheehy speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A court order that says hospitals cannot federally be required to provide pregnancy terminations when they violate a Texas abortion ban will stay for now, the Supreme Court said Monday.
The decision is another setback for opponents of Texas’ abortion ban, which for two years has withstood multiple legal challenges, including from women who had serious pregnancy complications and have been turned away by doctors.
It left Texas as the only state where the Biden administration is unable to enforce its interpretation of a federal law in an effort to ensure women still have access to emergency abortions when their health or life is at risk.
The justices did not detail their reasoning for keeping in place a lower court order, and there were no publicly noted dissents. Texas had asked the justices to leave the order in place while the Biden administration had asked the justices to throw it out.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the decision “a major victory.”
The Biden administration argues that a federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, requires emergency rooms to provide abortions if a pregnant patient’s health or life is at serious risk, even in states where the procedure is banned. The law only applies to emergency rooms that receive Medicare funding, which most hospitals do.
The Supreme Court decision comes weeks before a presidential election in which Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has put abortion at the center of her campaign, attacking Republican challenger Donald Trump for appointing judges to the high court who overturned nationwide abortion rights in 2022.
Texas' abortion ban has been a centerpiece of Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred ’s challenge against Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cuz for his seat.
At a campaign event over the weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, hundreds of Allred’s supporters broke out in raucous applause when he vowed to protect a woman’s right to an abortion. “When I’m in the Senate, we’re going to restore Roe v. Wade," Allred said.
At a separate event the same day, in a nearby suburb, Cruz outlined a litany of criticisms against Allred, but didn’t bring up the abortion law.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that “all patients — including women experiencing pregnancy loss, and other pregnancy-related emergencies — must be able to access the emergency medical care that they need and that is required by federal law.”
Complaints of pregnant women in medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms in Texas and elsewhere have spiked as hospitals grapple with whether standard care could violate strict state laws against abortion. Several Texas women have lodged complaints against hospitals for not terminating their failing and dangerous pregnancies because of the state's ban. In some cases, women lost reproductive organs.
In asking the Supreme Court to toss out the lower court decision, the administration pointed to a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues. At the time the Idaho case began, the state had an exception for the life, but not the health, of a woman.
Texas said its case is different, however, because the law provides some exceptions if a pregnant patient's health is at risk.
Texas pointed to a state Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman’s life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. Doctors, though, have said the Texas law is dangerously vague, and a medical board has refused to list all the conditions that qualify for an exception.
Marc Hearron, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said doctors in Texas got no clarity from the Supreme Court on Monday.
“The health care crisis is ongoing,” Hearron said. “Patients are going to continue to suffer.”
Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California at Davis who has written extensively about abortion, said there remains much uncertainty for doctors in Texas, who could risk life in prison for performing abortions.
“I think we’re going to continue to see physicians turning away patients, even patients who could qualify under the state’s exceptions, because the consequences of guessing wrong are so severe and the laws are not that clear,” Ziegler said.
The Texas case started after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leading to abortion restrictions in many Republican-controlled states. The Biden administration issued guidance saying hospitals still needed to provide abortions in emergency situations under a health care law that requires most hospitals to treat any patients in medical distress.
Texas sued over that guidance, arguing that hospitals cannot be required to provide abortions that would violate its ban. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state, ruling in January that the administration had overstepped its authority.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a post on X, “Reproductive rights are under assault in this country and women’s health and lives remain in danger from the chaos and confusion caused by overturning Roe.”
Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas. AP reporters Amanda Seitz in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and Aamer Madhani in Washington also contributed to this report.
Supreme Court lets stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban
Supreme Court lets stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban
FILE - The Supreme Court building is seen, June 28, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
