U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy questioned his Republican opponent Linda McMahon’s support of abortion rights Tuesday following her debate performance Sunday where she reversed herself on the Defense of Marriage Act.
“She may pretend to be pro-choice, but she’s not,” Murphy said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters.
News that McMahon would now vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage prompted Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, to post a comment on his Facebook page saying his initial endorsement of her is “no longer accurate.” But he said he is still voting for her “because her victory could mean the end of Roe v. Wade.”
Wolfgang, who met with the McMahon campaign Tuesday, declined to comment Tuesday beyond what he posted on his Facebook page.
Murphy questioned what McMahon told Wolfgang to make him so confident that she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if elected to the U.S. Senate.
“Did she commit that she would support Republican leadership and support their efforts to put conservative anti-choice judges on the Supreme Court? These are all really important questions for Connecticut women,” Murphy said in a conference call with the national political director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
“We already know Linda McMahon pretends to tell the Tea Party one thing, and social conservatives one thing, and Connecticut voters something different,” Murphy said. “She needs to be clear with the people of Connecticut why Peter Wolfgang is so sure Linda McMahon’s election to the Senate could result in the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.”
Todd Abrajano, McMahon’s spokesman, said McMahon is an “independent, pro-choice woman,” and to try and define her as anything but that is ridiculous.
He said Wolfgang made his position on DOMA public and McMahon talked to him today about why she’s evolved and believes it’s a matter of fairness.
“Sometimes people agree, sometimes they don’t,” Abrajano said. “We’re happy to have Peter’s vote.
Wolfgang was able to give McMahon a pass on her stance regarding abortion saying in his endorsement that “Linda is not pro-life. But she knows the pro-abortion movement has gone too far and she has the savviness to know that most people agree with her.“
However, it’s unclear exactly how he’s able to maintain support for her when she would repeal one of the most important pieces of legislation on his organization‘s agenda.
Wolfgang declined comment Tuesday.
