Montana Republicans have long looked at Democrat Jon Tester’s position in the Senate as an opportunity to take back a seat in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president in over 30 years. This time around, polls suggest that their candidate, Tim Sheehy, has a good chance of knocking out Tester — a win that could help tip the Senate majority in Republican favor. Sheehy is a 37-year-old Bronze Star–winning former Navy SEAL who founded a troubled aerial firefighting company from which he has extracted millions he has used to help self-finance his campaign.
The Char-Koosta News, the newspaper of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, published audio of Sheehy talking about members of the Crow Indian Reservation, the largest of the reservations in the state. At a private fundraiser in November 2023, Sheehy told his audience that he had branded cattle and roped steer on the Crow Reservation, which is “a great way to bond with all the Indians out there, while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.” In another event days later, he said he rode in a Crow parade. “They’ll let you know whether they like you or not, there’s Coors Light cans flying by your head.” This week, the New York Times confirmed that the audio was in fact Sheehy. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment, though Native Americans living in Montana have called Sheehy’s use of the racist stereotypes a “slap in the face.”
The audio is the latest blunder for Sheehy, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump and would have a much easier time this campaign cycle if he stopped doing things like lying about his record or insulting the state’s Native population, Montana’s largest minority at about 6 or 7 percent of the population.
Earlier this year, Sheehy gained national prominence after lying about shooting himself in the arm in a national park; despite seeking medical attention for the self-inflicted wound, he now claims the bullet was from a friendly fire incident when he was stationed in Afghanistan.
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