Democratic candidate for Congress in Oklahoma apologized in a TV interview on Friday after parents complained that she was drinking and verbally abusing children attending a sleepover at a friend’s house that month.
House candidate Abby Broyles, a former investigative television reporter who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020, said she had no memory of what happened because she mixed alcohol and sleeping pills. About eight girls, aged 12 to 13, attended a sleepover on February 11 where they watched the movie Titanic. Nondok Mediajournalistic non-profit organization in Oklahoma.
When first contacting NonDoc Media for comment, Ms. Broyles appeared to deny she was at the party. After a TikTok video showed otherwise, she was interviewed by KFOR-TV, the Oklahoma City station where she once worked. She did not immediately respond to a message from The Times on Monday.
In an interview, Ms. Broyles said she passed out after drinking wine and taking sleeping pills. She said that the medicine had been given to her by a friend whose daughter was staying overnight when Miss Broyles arrived.
“I had an adverse reaction,” Ms Broyles said. “Instead of helping me sleep, I was hallucinating. And I don’t remember anything until I woke up or came to my senses and I was throwing up in a trash can.”
Ms. Broyles, 32, a lawyer, is seeking her party’s nomination in June to run against Rep. Stephanie Bice, a first-term Republican representing Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District. The Democrat has only held the seat once in recent history, and for only two years. The area includes most of Oklahoma City.
In 2020 Miss Broyles ran unsuccessfully to throw off Senator James Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma.
Citing information from some parents and children present at the party, NonDoc Media reported that Ms. Broyles scolded one girl, also mentioned that she was Hispanic, and mentioned another girl’s acne among other offensive remarks. They said she not only vomited in the laundry basket, but also in the shoes of one of the girls.
On Wednesday, ahead of Ms. Broyles’ televised apology, Sarah Matthews, whose daughter was at the party, blasted the candidate on Twitter. for not being able to contact the girls or apologize.
“For someone who preaches that you should always be for a woman, I am outraged by your behavior and find it terrible that you cannot understand why their parents are angry,” Ms Matthews wrote. “Your vile, cruel and bigoted behavior cannot be justified.”
In an interview that aired Friday, Ms Broyles told the network she had struggled with stress, anxiety and insomnia for years, but had never experienced anything like what happened at the party.
“I remember when I started hallucinating and the rest is just blurry,” she said. “I remember how I opened my eyes, and I felt bad in this basket, and I didn’t know where I was. It was the most horrible experience I’ve ever had.”
Ms. Broyles stated that the actions and words attributed to her were completely out of character.
“First of all, I want to once again apologize to the families. And for the people who say I just passed out and making it up, you don’t know me,” she said. “I would never, ever say something hurtful like that, and so I know I was out of my mind.”
Asked if she had a substance abuse problem, Ms. Broyles replied, “No.”