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    Tim Sheehy Was Recorded Using Racist Stereotypes About Native Americans

    Tim Sheehy, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Montana, made comments perpetuating racist stereotypes about Native Americans during private fund-raisers last year, according to recordings of the events published by a local news outlet late last week and obtained by The New York Times.In one recording, Mr. Sheehy, a cattle rancher and businessman, can be heard saying that he had participated in roping and branding cattle on the Crow Reservation, in southeastern Montana, and that it was “a great way to bond with all the Indians out there, while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.” In another clip, he said that he had ridden in a Crow parade, and that “they’ll let you know whether they like you or not, there’s Coors Light cans flying by your head.”At a campaign event in Shelby, Mont.Mr. Sheehy said roping and branding on the Crow reservation was “a great way to bond with all the Indians out there, while they’re drunk at 8 a.m.”By making these remarks, Mr. Sheehy not only used stereotypes, but he also waded into the complex history of Native American tribal dynamics in Montana, where Indigenous residents make up about 6 percent of the population. The state has seven reservations and 12 tribes.Native Americans say that they have long been forgotten in political discussions and that basic needs on reservations, including water, electricity and health care, have been ignored by leaders of both major political parties.In Montana, some Native Americans said they were appalled but not surprised by Mr. Sheehy’s comments, first reported by The Char-Koosta News, which covers the Flathead Indian reservation in the northwestern part of the state.Calvin Lime, who lives on the Blackfeet reservation in northern Montana, said the remarks were a “slap in the face,” and especially unfortunate because the Crow Tribe was one of the most outspokenly pro-Trump tribes. (Mr. Sheehy received the endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump in the Republican primary.)“For them to bring him there, work with him, they’re happy, they’re promoting him, but behind closed doors they’re the drunken Indian,” Mr. Lime said. “Behind closed doors, you’re actually getting looked at as a lesser-than.”A spokeswoman for Mr. Sheehy’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Senator Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent locked in a tight race with Mr. Sheehy, declined to comment.At a rodeo fund-raiserMr. Sheehy said people on a Crow reservation would throw beer cans at him.Native Americans in Montana have been a key voting bloc for Mr. Tester, who is in his third term, but local Native American leaders say that Democrats cannot take their votes for granted. Some suggested that Montana Republicans like Representative Ryan Zinke had made progress in improving the perception of Republicans among the state’s tribes, but Mr. Sheehy’s comments may have jeopardized that, said Alexandra Lin, a former member of the Montana Democratic Party who is Indigenous.“Representative Zinke and Senator Daines have begun to understand these really important demographic groups and have been investing in them,” Ms. Lin said, referring to Steve Daines, the state’s Republican senator, “and it’s surprising that Sheehy is not doing this.” More

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    Tester of Montana Becomes 2d Democratic Senator to Call on Biden to Step Aside

    Senator Jon Tester of Montana called on President Biden to drop his campaign for re-election on Thursday night, becoming the second sitting Democratic senator to publicly join the effort to push Mr. Biden out of the race. “I have worked with President Biden when it has made Montana stronger, and I’ve never been afraid to stand up to him when he is wrong,” Mr. Tester, a vulnerable incumbent whose opponent has sought to tie him tightly to Mr. Biden, said in a statement. “And while I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek re-election to another term.”Mr. Tester’s Washington office said he was also endorsing an open process to select the nominee at the Democratic National Convention, rather than throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.Mr. Tester is locked in a tight re-election race of his own, and he needs all the distance from Mr. Biden he can get in his deep-red state. Even before Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance last month put the spotlight back on his age and mental acuity, Mr. Tester had kept him at arm’s length while working to appear bipartisan and appeal to moderate and Republican voters. Mr. Tester is just the second Democratic senator to call on Mr. Biden to quit, though a group of House Democrats have done so and other senators have been said to be pushing Mr. Biden to the exits behind the scenes.Last month, when Mr. Tester debated Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and businessman who is his Republican rival for the Senate seat, he criticized the Biden administration’s energy policies and its approach toward immigration. “The bottom line is: He doesn’t listen to me enough,” Mr. Tester said of Mr. Biden. “He needs to.”But Mr. Sheehy has hammered at Mr. Tester, tying him to Mr. Biden and accusing him of being “the deciding vote for Biden’s America-Last agenda.” One of his recent advertisements played a clip of Mr. Tester vouching for Mr. Biden’s mental competency: “He’s absolutely 100 percent with it,” Mr. Tester says. Polls of the Montana Senate contest have shown a close race, with Mr. Sheehy often narrowly ahead.Mr. Sheehy immediately slammed Mr. Tester’s statement on Thursday night, which was reported by a local Montana news outlet moments before the senator released it publicly.“Is Jon Tester finally admitting he lied when he told us Biden is 100% with it?! And does this mean he’s endorsing his former colleague Kamala Harris??” Mr. Sheehy wrote on X. “Two-Faced Tester is desperately trying to distance himself from the train wreck he’s enabled and forced on Montanans.” More

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    Tim Sheehy Wins G.O.P. Nod to Challenge Tester for Senate in Montana

    Tim Sheehy, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Montana on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, setting him up for a November showdown against Senator Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbent.With 27 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Sheehy had 75.5 percent, well ahead of his lesser-known opponents. Brad Johnson, Montana’s former secretary of state, had 18 percent of the vote, and Charles Walkingchild had 6.5 percent.The Republican primary was essentially a foregone conclusion since February, when Representative Matt Rosendale abruptly exited the race — less than a week after he entered it — citing former President Donald J. Trump’s endorsement of Mr. Sheehy. Mr. Rosendale, a right-wing hard-liner, had been viewed as the only serious challenger to Mr. Sheehy, for whom the Republican establishment had worked to clear the field. His victory is a boon for Republicans as they work to recapture control of the Senate, competing on a favorable map in which a number of vulnerable Democrats face tough re-election battles.“Tim Sheehy is a strong conservative, an American hero and a successful businessman who will bring an outsider’s perspective to a broken Washington,” said Senator Steve Daines, the Montana Republican who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the Senate. “The clearest path to a Republican Senate majority runs through Montana.”Mr. Sheehy will face a formidable opponent in Mr. Tester, a popular incumbent who has survived past challenges in his ruby-red state by leaning on his background as a third-generation Montana farmer and his reputation of bipartisanship. Recent polls have suggested a tight race, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Montana a “tossup.” Mr. Tester officially captured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday.Mr. Tester has a cash advantage; he raised $4.1 million between April 1 and May 15, according to recent financial filings, and his campaign has $11.7 million cash on hand. Mr. Sheehy’s campaign raised $2.1 million in the same period — including $600,000 the candidate lent himself — and had $2.2 million cash on hand.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More