Outgoing Claire McCaskill Blames Abortion Activists for Loss: ‘Shut Up!’

Departing Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill blamed “irritating” abortion rights activists for the loss of her re-election bid in November:

#BREAKING: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) blasts pro-choice activists in an interview on @nytimes "The Daily” podcast, saying they are “irritating,” they should “shut up,” and helped ruin her 2018 re-election effort. pic.twitter.com/gwj6UjVAmZ

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 20, 2018

The Democrat blasted abortion proponents Thursday during an episode of the New York Times’ The Daily podcast after Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise pointed to McCaskill possibly being seen as waffling on abortion rights as a reason for her loss to pro-life Republican Josh Hawley.

As the Washington Free Beacon observed, when the Times hosts asked for McCaskill’s response to the pro-abortion critics, the senator fumed, “Shut up! I have been standing in the breach for women’s rights as it relates to reproductive freedom for all of my adult life.”

“And the fact that these young women didn’t realize that and just be quiet, roll up their sleeves, and work their ass off for me, was beyond irritating, can you tell?” McCaskill asked. “I think the people you talk to, I’m willing to bet I could probably name three or four of them, are young women who have not spent any time outside of the group of people that agree with them.”

The senator added the young feminists “probably don’t understand that Trump’s success had a whole lot to do with economic angst,” and that successful Democrats knew enough not to “ignore … the meat and potatoes” issues.

McCaskill warned the whining abortion rights activists that their failure to understand the more wide-ranging issues has cost them dearly, since Hawley is a very vocal pro-life advocate.

“Josh Hawley thinks the morning-after pill should be illegal,” she said. “He has said publicly he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

“My voting record is perfect,” McCaskill snapped. “Shame on them if they don’t know my voting record, and shame on them if they’re not working as hard as they can for me and not trashing me because of my voting record in a hard state.”

While McCaskill has supported abortion rights, she voted in favor of a ban on partial birth abortions in 2006, and – on the eve of Election Day in November –dodged a Weekly Standard reporter’s question about whether she supports the Hyde Amendment “multiple times” before “finally” agreeing the federal government should not fund abortions through Medicaid.

McCaskill also voted for Obamacare, which provides taxpayer funding for insurance plans that cover elective abortions, and has voted to keep federal family planning funding for Planned Parenthood as well.

Hawley was endorsed by Missouri Right to Life Federal PAC in May.

“Our nation’s laws and policies should protect the innocent and defend the most vulnerable among us,” Hawley said. “We have a duty to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. The future of our state and our nation depend on it.”