A Valentine's Day slumber party for tween girls ended in tears last week after a former journalist turned Democratic candidate for Congress showed up, got drunk, and verbally abused the children before vomiting in a laundry basket.
NonDoc reports that Abby Broyles, who is running to represent Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional District, was invited to the Feb. 11 sleepover by the host, whose daughter was among the eight girls in attendance. Broyles was reportedly drinking wine and was initially pleasant before she suddenly lashed out at the children for no apparent reason:
According to multiple accounts of the evening, Broyles became intoxicated and spoke derogatorily to some of the girls. She allegedly called one girl an "acne fucker," which prompted the girl to leave the room in tears. Broyles allegedly called another girl a "Hispanic fucker" and another a "judgy fucker."
At one point, Broyles allegedly vomited into a laundry basket and onto one girl's shoes.
Sarah Matthews, a mother of one of the girls who attended the party, tagged Broyles's campaign account in a Twitter thread posted on Wednesday.
"Since it's been five days and you have neglected to reach out to any of the young ladies (12 & 13 yr olds, including my daughter) you verbally and emotionally abused last weekend, I thought I would give you a chance to try to apologize (at a minimum) here," Matthews wrote.
"Your vile, cruel, and bigoted behavior should not be excused or 'swept under the rug,'" she continued. "Not only did you scare and traumatize these beautiful girls with your words, you ruined a pair of their shoes with your vomit! (Which she saved up to buy with her own money!) Considering how much you bragged about how 'rich and successful' you are to these children, surely you can afford to replace her shoes!"
According to NonDoc, the mother's account was corroborated by another parent whose daughter attended the party, as well as by text messages from the host that apologize for Broyles's behavior. The host is a friend of the candidate from law school who donated $2,550 to Broyles's unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in 2020. "Unfortunately it really was as bad as it sounds," the host wrote in a text to the girls' mothers, noting that Broyles had brought two bottles of wine to the party. "She went from zonked out to attacking kids."
The host told NonDoc she could "confirm that an incident occurred" involving Broyles that was "of the kind of magnitude that I needed to make phone calls to every parent (of the children) in attendance the next day."
Broyles, who was recently endorsed by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), the failed presidential candidate best known for farting on live television, has furiously denied the allegations, saying she wasn't even at the party, but "out of town on a fundraising trip," and did not know the women involved. "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," Broyles told NonDoc. "I'm running for office. You don't think this is a political attack? You don't think this is something they cooked up?"
The Democrat eventually clarified that she was not accusing the tween girls of launching a politically motivated smear campaign, but suggested "their moms" were acting nefariously. A former local news reporter and lawyer, Broyles threatened to sue the outlet for reporting the claims but repeatedly declined to provide any evidence to verify her whereabouts on the night of the party. "If I were a journalist I would not be doing a story, because it's not a story," she said.
Matthews, the outraged mother, called Broyles's denials "grotesque" and "disgusting." Her 12-year-old daughter described the traumatic experience of watching Broyles snap and start accosting the tweens. "We were all sitting around, and she was just going around in a circle saying rude things and would end with 'F—er' and saying 'F— you' to all of us there—really rude things," the 12-year-old said. "My friend has acne, and she had been talking about her acne early in the evening, and then [Broyles] called her an 'acne F—er,' and she ran upstairs crying." The girl added that Broyles kept "telling me I wasn't going to be as successful as her."
Blake Allen, an Oklahoma attorney, posted the story on Twitter, writing that "literally no one connected in local politics is going to be surprised by this," suggesting that Broyles has a reputation for outlandish drunken behavior. "Abby clearly has a deep problem w/ alcohol and I hope she gets the treatment she clearly needs," Allen wrote. "Sometimes wake up calls can be big massive blowups like this but can hopefully be a catalyst."
Broyles is running against first-term Rep. Stephanie Bice (R.), who ousted incumbent Democrat Kendra Horn in 2020. Horn was the first Democrat to represent the state's Fifth Congressional District since 1974.