Long Island Congressional candidate George Santos compared reproductive rights to slavery
ALBANY — A Long Island Republican running for Congress compared reproductive rights to slavery and said future generations will look back on abortion as “barbaric.”
George Santos, a Trump-loving conservative hoping to represent the 3rd Congressional District, has described himself as “unapologetically pro-life” and recently told fellow GOPers in Queens that “we are going to be remembered as the most barbaric generation to ever live” due to abortion access in the U.S.
“All of us in this room can agree that when we look at slavery, it was barbaric,” Santos said during an August event hosted by the Whitestone Republican Club. “Fifty years from now, we’re going to look back at what we’re doing in this country and we are going to say ‘we killed babies out of the womb? We aborted our own? That is barbaric.’”
Santos’ stance on reproductive rights drew condemnation from Robert Zimmerman, his Democratic opponent in the race to replace retiring Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).
Zimmerman, a member of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime bundler for big name candidates like Hillary Clinton, says Santos’ far right ideology and staunch opposition to abortion make him unfit for office.
“It’s such an ignorant and dangerous statement to make,” Zimmerman told the Daily News. “And also, so hateful and disrespectful to women, who have every right to make their own decisions about their own lives.
“He is more extreme than most Republicans are, and dangerously divisive and radical,” he added.
Robert Zimmerman (Gerri Hernandez Photographer/)
Santos’ campaign responded by pointing to a months-old press release put out following the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning Roe v. Wade in which the Republican says he is pro-life but has and will “never advocate for an absolute ban on abortion.”
However, two years ago Santos told The Island Now he would “vote to support the ban of abortion in the United States” if elected and said he supported the idea of criminal charges for doctors if the procedure were to be outlawed.
He has also deleted at least two tweets related to the subject, including one in which he called the stalled Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify abortion protections at the federal level, “the most perverse bill in the history of our country.”
George Santos, a Long Island Republican running for Congress.
Abortion could very well be a deciding factor in the recently redrawn district, which covers all of northern Nassau County and a sliver of eastern Queens, as Dems hope the SCOTUS decision drives pro-choice voters to the polls.
A Siena College poll from last month found that 68% of New York voters say they oppose the decision to overturn Roe.
Republicans, meanwhile, want to see a repeat of the red wave that washed over Long Island last year.
Santos, who describes himself as a Wall Street financier and investor, is an avid supporter of former president Donald Trump and is proud pals with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). He first ran for Congress in 2018, losing to Suozzi by nearly 50,000 votes.
Zimmerman, who made three previous failed runs for public office back in the 1980s, won a crowded Dem primary last month. He said he is more in line with mainline voters in New York.
“I am going to be a champion, a fierce advocate, for codifying Roe v. Wade... and looking for other ways that we can provide protection for women who have every right to control their health choices, their body, their autonomy and to protect their right to a safe and legal abortion,” he said. “The alternative is frankly that women will die under George Santos’ agenda.”
