After Facing Backlash For Mocking Ohio Women, Bernie Moreno Under Fire For Using Anti-Recording Device To Hide From Ohioans

Business Insider: “[Moreno’s Campaign] Deploy[s] A Gadget That Appears To Emit An Ultrasonic Frequency That Drowns Out Audio Recording Devices With A Strange Noise.”

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno is again under fire – this time for purchasing an anti-recording device to “make it much more difficult to capture his words” after he was caught calling Ohio women “a little crazy” for wanting to make their own health care decisions. Moreno is facing more scrutiny for “stop[ping] people from being able to record anything that [he] says” because he “can’t guarantee” he won’t make comments “mocking” Ohioans.

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Rachel Maddow, MSNBC: Mr. Moreno, last month, told a town hall quote, ‘you know, my rules, nothing is off limits. If you want to tape, record, videotape anything, I say, you’re welcome to do that. Record everything I say, nothing to hide. Tape me.’ Of course, that was before somebody at one of Bernie Moreno’s town halls actually did record him…”

Bernie Moreno: “A lot of suburban women that are like ‘listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ Ok, a little crazy, by the way. But, especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, I don’t think that’s an issue for you. Oh, thank God my wife didn’t hear that one.” 

Rachel Maddow, MSNBC: “That piece of tape of Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying a woman over 50 has no reason to support abortion rights because, you know, ‘she’s not making babies anymore. So why should we care what she thinks?’ That tape got Mr. Moreno a lot of negative press coverage, as you might imagine. 

“Now, one way for his campaign to avoid that happening again would be for their candidate to just not say stuff like that. Mr. Moreno’s campaign has instead decided on what they think is a better option, a safer option for them. They can’t guarantee he’s not going to say stuff like that, and so they’ve done one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in politics anywhere. 

“This is a guy asking Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno a question. You can see that the question is being asked. You could hear that the question is being asked, but then a staffer for Bernie Moreno runs up to the guy asking the question and holds a big black box that kind of looks like a speaker in the face of that guy. What is he doing with this black box? The black box puts out an ultrasonic jamming frequency so no one can record any sound anywhere near it, and it makes the audio get all squeaky and muffled so you can’t hear what Bernie Moreno says.”

Read More:

Washington Post: GOP Senate candidate uses anti-recording technology
Azi Paybarah
October 28, 2024

• Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s campaign is using an anti-recording device to prevent Democrats from recording him, according to video from the Ohio Democratic Party and a statement from the campaign.

• The Ohio Democratic Party provided to The Washington Post two videos that appear to show Moreno’s campaign using the anti-recording technology.

• In both videos, Moreno can be seen walking as the person recording him tries asking him questions. As Moreno continues walking, a person accompanying Moreno can be seen holding a rectangular box near the camera, after which a low rumbling sound can be heard. The goal appears to be to diminish the audio of the questioner and the candidate, making the video essentially useless.

• A photograph published Thursday by the New York Times appears to show a Moreno campaign staffer holding one such device.

Business Insider: Ohio GOP candidate in key Senate race uses anti-recording tech to combat ‘trackers’
Bryan Metzger
October 25, 2024

• [Bernie Moreno’s] invited event attendees to record him — and recently landed himself in hot water as a result. Now, his campaign is deploying anti-recording technology against “trackers” who try to record him.

• [Moreno] explicitly invited attendees at his events to record him.

• “You know my rules: Nothing’s off limits,” Moreno said at a town hall event in Warren, Ohio in late September, according to a video seen by BI. “If you want to tape record, videotape anything I say, you’re welcome to do that.“

• But Moreno’s campaign has recently begun taking an unusual step to make it much more difficult to capture his words, deploying a gadget that appears to emit an ultrasonic frequency that drowns out audio recording devices with a strange noise.

• In videos and audio recordings provided to Business Insider by the Ohio Democratic Party, staffers for the GOP candidate can be seen holding the device…

• It’s unclear exactly which device the Moreno campaign is using, but it resembles a “Microphone Jammer” available online for roughly $400.

• The campaign’s use of the anti-recording device comes after Moreno was surreptitiously recorded at that same town hall in Warren making comments seen as dismissive of suburban women who prioritize abortion when voting.

• “You know, the left has a lot of single-issue voters,” Moreno said at the event. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ … OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”

• Brown has seized on those comments in the weeks since, casting the former car dealer as unsympathetic toward women in a race where abortion looms large. Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley even weighed in, writing on X: “Are you trying to lose the election?”

• But by using technology to prevent recording at his events, Moreno has taken a more aggressive posture toward trackers than other candidates typically do, suggesting a desire to hinder his opponents’ ability to record his statements.