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Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota apologized on Tuesday for advertising her campaign, which incorrectly identified victims of sexual abuse, ruling out her candidacy for re-election three weeks before mid-term.
Ms. Heitkamp, one of the Democrats' most threatened MPs, has published a newspaper ad criticizing Republican opponent Kevin Cramer about victims of sexual misconduct. The advertisement, which resembled an open letter to Mr. Cramer, mentioned the names of more than 120 women.
After the advertisement aired, however, several women consulted social media to say that they had not given permission to Ms. Heitkamp's campaign to use their name.
"We recently discovered that many of the women's names that were provided to us did not allow the sharing of their names or were not victims of abuse," Ms. Heitkamp said in a statement. Tuesday.
She added: "I deeply regret this error and we are publishing a retraction, we apologize personally to each of those affected by this situation and take the necessary steps to ensure that it does not happen again."
In an interview with Rob Port, a conservative blogger and radio host, Ms. Heitkamp, seemed moved at times, said her campaign was naming the names through lawyers who work with the victims, but she took responsibility for it. "It's a very flagrant mistake of the campaign and I recognize it," she said.
The mistake could hardly have happened at the worst moment for Mrs Heitkamp. One of the few Democratic senators to run in a state elected by President Trump in 2016, she has already faced a tough battle to defend her seat. But the bitter fight around Brett's confirmation Mr. Kavanaugh – Ms. Heitkamp voted against – nationalized the Senate elections in a way that many contending Democrats were trying to avoid, and provided a path of attack to M Cramer.
The tumult over the advertising of Mrs. Heitkamp illustrates one of the reasons.
"That's what happens when desperate people act for their own political advantage," Cramer said. told the Associated Press. "She proved that her personal politics mattered more than the personal pain of someone."
In the ad, Ms. Heitkamp's campaign exposed Mr. Cramer's remarks earlier this month in an interview with the New York Times, in which he invoked his wife, daughters, mother and mother-in-law. suggested that the #MeToo movement was a reality. "A movement towards victimization."
When Ms. Heitkamp was informed of Mr. Cramer's remarks during an interview at a Scandinavian festival, she reacted angrily.
"I think it's wonderful that his wife has never had any experience and that it's good for her, and it's wonderful that her mother does not have it," she said. "My mother did it. And I think that has affected my mother all her life. And that does not make it any less strong. "
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