A MAGA billionaire vying to become Georgia’s next governor is under scrutiny after a bombshell recording captured him apparently agreeing that women should have to “prove” they were raped in order to qualify for an abortion.
The recording, made at a campaign event before Rick Jackson’s victory in Tuesday night’s GOP runoff, shows the healthcare executive discussing abortion with a voter who objected to exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape.
When the voter argued that “if a woman is saying she was raped, she needs to prove it,” Jackson responded affirmatively.
“I just want to see babies born, no matter how they were conceived,” the woman can be heard saying on the recording, which was reviewed by the Daily Beast.
“I mean, the whole thing about a rape exception and everything, it’s like, I mean know it’s horrible, but two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“They’ve still got a life,” Jackson concurs.
“Yeah, it’s still a life,” the woman continues, “and it seems to me if a woman is saying she was raped she needs to prove it.”
“Right, got you,” replies Jackson.
Jackson’s campaign has pushed back strongly on characterizations of the comments, accusing critics of distorting his position.
But the recorded remarks have quickly become a flashpoint in Georgia’s closely watched governor’s race, in which Jackson will now run against Democratic nominee and former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.
Jackson scored one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 primary season on Tuesday, overcoming the power of President Donald Trump’s endorsement with a massive stream of cash.
With the help of over$100 million of his personal wealth, the healthcare executive defeated Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, painting himself as a political outsider but someone with MAGA positions on immigration, social issues and abortion.
Trump, however, tried to ignore the fact that he had originally backed the losing candidate afterJackson’s victory, writing on X: “Congratulations to Rick Jackson, who very successfully campaigned on being ‘TRUMP’, and won.”
“He will be your next Governor of Georgia. Can’t wait!”
Georgia’s abortion laws—which generally ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy—are likely to be a hot topic at the midterms in November.
Under the state’s law, there are exceptions for rape and incest, but only when a police report has been filed. There are also exceptions for when the fetus is not able to survive outside of the womb, and when the life or health of a pregnant person is at risk.
The Daily Beast reached out to Jackson’s campaign about the comments but did not hear back before publication.
However, in an earlier statement, spokesman Brian Robinson said Jackson supported the current law and had no intention of changing it if he were elected governor.
Speaking to a local Fox5 outlet, Robinson added that the recording was made by a “left-wing tracker who is going around taping what he says and trying to take it out of context and make it sound like something that it is not.”
Democrats and reproductive rights advocates have nonetheless seized on the recording, portraying the comments as part of a broader Republican effort to narrow access to reproductive healthcare.
“This is yet another example in Rick Jackson’s long record of supporting dangerous abortion bans,” the Georgia Democrats said in a statement.
