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An Oklahoma Democrat who came under intense criticism for allegedly verbally attacking several pre-teen girls while at the home of a friend who was hosting a sleepover for the middle schoolers has ended her campaign.
Abby Broyles, a candidate for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, went to a friend’s house on Feb. 11 and became increasingly aggressive as she continued to drink through the night, according to NonDoc.com, which first reported the story.
Broyles allegedly insulted the girls attending the sleepover after becoming intoxicated, according to multiple people interviewed by the news outlet, who said that she allegedly said one girl was an “acne f–ker,” and hurled multiple insults at other young girls as well.
“Hispanic f–ker,” she allegedly said to one girl, attending the sleepover and “judgy f–ker,” to another. Broyles also allegedly vomited into a laundry basket as well as a girl’s shoe, according to the report.
A press release on Thursday from Broyles’ team announced that she is withdrawing her candidacy for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, citing a combination of factors, including “gerrymandering” and “recent events” and “salacious right-wing clickbait.”
“Shortly after Abby announced her candidacy for CD-5, the Republican legislature egregiously gerrymandered the new district to prevent any democrat from winning. That reality combined with recent events that turned Abby into salacious right-wing clickbait have led the Broyles campaign to make this difficult decision and Abby to focus on her mental health,” the press release states.
Broyles said that she regrets mixing alcohol and the sleeping medication.
“Last month, I made a mistake I deeply regret,” Broyles said. “As I admitted, I mixed alcohol and a medication I’d never taken before while under the same roof as a group of young women who looked up to me, and for that, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
She also states that a mother went to Twitter and the media after the sleepover and made statements that are “falsely accusatory.”
“A mother whom I’ve never met, went to Twitter and the media 5 days later to make accusations that not only go against my core values and beliefs, but are falsely accusatory,” Broyles said.
Sarah Matthews, a mother of one of the young girls who attended the sleepover, told KFOR and NonDoc.com that Broyles had insulted multiple girls at the party.
Matthews was not present during the night of the sleepover, and another parent confirmed the account of Broyles’ actions based on information from her daughter to NonDoc.com. The homeowner of the house where the sleepover occurred also allegedly outlined and apologized for Broyles’ actions in text messages to multiple parents obtained by NonDoc.com.
Broyles initially denied the allegations when contacted by NonDoc.com and said that she was out of town, adding that the allegations were being “cooked up.” She also threatened to sue the news outlet.
“I saw the tweets. I have been out of town on a fundraising trip, and they are awful and offensive and false,” Broyles said to the news outlet. “I mean, I get trolled on Twitter all the time, but I don’t know these women and I don’t know what is behind this, but it’s just not true.”
“I’m running for office. You don’t think this is a political attack? You don’t think this is something they cooked up?” Broyles said.
In a follow-up interview with KFOR, Broyles claimed that she was “misquoted” by NonDoc and said she “never told them that I wasn’t there.”
After the editor-in-chief of NonDoc.com let KFOR listen to the phone call with Broyles, she said that she was “caught off guard” by the call. Fox News Digital also listened to the recorded interview between a NonDoc reporter and Broyles.
“That phone call was terrifying and caught me off guard. I remember hearing the accusations and just repeating ‘no, no, no’ and then hanging up. I was happy to be in the TikTok video with the girls, which was obvious proof of my attendance,” Broyles told KFOR.
Broyles’ posted a tweet on March 2nd stating that she wanted to kill herself, which was shortly after removed from Twitter. She said in the press release that she made an attempt to end her life that night.
“On the morning of March 2nd, I made the attempt to take my life, but thankfully, God had greater plans for me. I am currently undergoing mental health treatment for severe anxiety and dependency on alcohol to cope,” Broyles said.
The former Congressional candidate said that she will eventually make a return to politics.
“Once I work through my mental health challenges, I will be back to fight and protect our democracy, working alongside all of you – women, girls and working families alike. I’m making this promise to you: I will be back stronger than ever,” Broyles said.
Broyles also wrote a Medium post explaining much of her life story, including mental health issues that she has struggled with, stating that she should have sought help sooner before entering politics.
“I should have asked for help sooner before I wound up Twitter roadkill, especially before jumping into the cutthroat political arena. I was recruited to challenge longtime Senator Jim Inhofe because I was fairly well known, a young professional female, and a huge contrast in every way to the 85-year-old senator,” Broyles said.
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