Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde suggested most nursing home residents should not be voting because they only have "five, six months life expectancy."
Hovde is challenging Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, a crucial swing state that could determine which party controls the Senate and whether President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential race. While Baldwin has easily won reelection in the past, Republicans see the close presidential race as an opportunity to flip the Senate seat, largely rallying around Hovde ahead of the August 13 primary.
Hovde, who is endorsed by Trump, is facing criticism over recent remarks made about nursing home residents voting in the 2020 presidential election during an April 5 interview on the Guy Benson Show.
While Hovde did not support Trump's unproven claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen via widespread fraud, he did share some concerns about the election when pressed.
"We had nursing homes, where the sheriff of Racine investigated, where you had 100 percent voting in nursing homes. If you're in a nursing home, you only have five, six months life expectancy," he said.
He continued: "Almost no one in a nursing home is in a point to vote, and you had children, adult children, saying, 'Who voted for my 85 or 90-year-old father or mother?"
In a statement to Newsweek, a Hovde campaign spokesperson wrote, "In no manner did Eric Hovde suggest that elderly people should not vote. He was referring to specific cases in Racine Co. where family members raised concerns about their loved ones voting."
Republicans raised concerns about voting in Wisconsin nursing homes during the 2020 election amid Trump's voter fraud claims, which have not been backed by substantial evidence. Biden narrowly beat Trump in Wisconsin by only about 20,000 votes, and an audit of the election did not find widespread fraud.
Some have been critical of a pandemic-era decision to allow election clerks to ignore a rule requiring poll workers to assist with voting at nursing homes, as most of them were not allowing visitors due to COVID-19, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
While the Racine County Sheriff's Office recommended charges against the Wisconsin Elections Commission, concluding that at least one resident was found incompetent to cast a vote in the election, charges were never brought.
According to the Sentinel, voting data has not backed up claims that there was a 100 percent turnout in some nursing homes. Seventy-nine percent of nursing home residents voted in 2020, a lower number than in 2016.
Hovde's remarks sparked a flurry of backlash on X, formerly Twitter. A video of his comments had been viewed more than one million times on the platform.
"No, every adult should have the right to vote," posted progressive activist Nina Turner.
Conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes, a Trump critic, wrote, "Do you really think that you have to say s*** like this to ingratiate yourself with Maga?"
Democratic commentator Greg Pinelo posted: "A) A nursing home is not a hospice. People live in them for years. B) This is even more politically stupid than it is evil."
Update 4/10/24, 7:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from a Hovde campaign spokesperson.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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