The RealAnnieAndrews

Now openly backs a ban on “weapons of war”

During her 2022 House run, Andrews said: “If you are a law-abiding gun-owner, I have no interest in your guns.” Her current Senate campaign website goes further. She explicitly says she would support “banning weapons of war from our streets” — gun-control shorthand for the semi-automatic rifles commonly called assault weapons, among the most widely owned rifles in the country.

2022 campaign · Current campaign website

A long list of gun restrictions

Her stated agenda includes red flag laws, universal background checks, raising the purchase age for what she calls an “assault weapon” to 21, federal funding for gun-violence research, a federal storage mandate with liability for adults, and a ban on military-style weapons.

2022 campaign · Post and Courier, 10/16/22

Told two sitting governors she hopes they never sleep again

In September 2024, days after a school shooting in Georgia, Andrews went after Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster for supporting gun rights. She said they “continue to prioritize the NRA over our children’s safety” and told them: “You are the bad guys. You are the villains.”

“The lollipops are so the kids will stay quiet during a lockdown, in case you are as dense as you are evil.”

“I hope you see images of bloody school children when you close your eyes at night. I hope you hear their screams… I hope you never get another good night’s sleep.”

Public posts, September 2024

Called open carry and permitless carry “dangerous”

Andrews has labeled legislation allowing open carry and permitless carry “dangerous.” In February 2021 she testified against an open carry bill at the State House, telling lawmakers the bill “will not protect our children and is actually a threat to public safety.”

Post and Courier, 2/10/21

Objected to schoolchildren touching Revolutionary War muskets

In November 2018, Andrews wrote a letter to the editor about a Charleston County school field trip to the Powder Magazine Museum, where students handle a nonfunctioning musket. She called it “glorifying gun culture” and said it was “counterproductive.”

“Guns and children do not go well together… Will these 9-year-olds understand the difference between the firearm they handled on a field trip and an improperly stored firearm in a home?”

Post and Courier, 11/13/18

Opposed Second Amendment sanctuary counties

In September 2023, Andrews said it was disappointing to see South Carolina officials pass Second Amendment sanctuary laws. She objected to “letting county sheriffs decide whether or not they’re going to enforce state-level and federal-level gun laws.”

Post and Courier, 9/23/23

Wants to end South Carolina’s three-day background check rule

Andrews has called for closing what activists call the “Charleston loophole.” Under current law, a gun sale may proceed after three business days if the background check has not come back. She wants the sale blocked until the government finishes.

Campaign materials

Shared a list of gun laws Pennsylvania was “missing”

After the July 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump, Andrews amplified a post from Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts listing gun restrictions Pennsylvania lacked — including gun owner licensing, magazine bans, waiting periods, and open carry regulation.

X, July 2024

Opposed a 15-week limit as “tyrannical”

When Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill in 2022 to bar abortion after 15 weeks, Andrews called the proposal “anti-science,” “anti-woman,” and “tyrannical.” She said Mace and her “Republican allies” “will not stop until they have a say in your every decision” and “can not be trusted.”

WCBD, 9/13/22

“It is about controlling women’s bodies”

In a May 2022 guest column, Andrews wrote that pro-life legislators “do not have even a basic understanding of reproductive physiology” and that their stated goal of protecting life is a “farcical crusade.”

“This is not about ‘protecting life.’ It is about controlling women’s bodies, plain and simple.”

The State, 5/22/22

Says late-term abortion for convenience “doesn’t exist”

In August 2022, Andrews said abortions performed for convenience late in pregnancy “don’t exist.” She said third-trimester abortions are under 1% of the total, are “by definition tragic,” and will “never be made easier with government intrusion into personal medical decisions.”

Twitter, August 2022

“We don’t owe them our politeness”

During the South Carolina Legislature’s September 2022 debate over an abortion ban, Andrews warned residents that lawmakers were “trying to take away my rights, your rights, and the rights of every woman in this state. We don’t owe them our politeness.”

Campaign Facebook, September 2022

Endorsed by the biggest abortion groups in the country

Andrews announced the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s endorsement in 2022. In 2026, she was endorsed by EMILY’s List, the national group that funds Democratic women who support abortion rights.

Campaign announcements, 2022 & 2026

Opposed South Carolina’s ban — and called the state a “sanctuary”

In April 2024, Andrews posted a video and statement opposing H.4624, the bill banning transition procedures for minors and barring taxpayer funding for adult procedures. She called it a “harmful bill” and said South Carolina had been serving as a “crucial sanctuary state for this life-saving care” as neighboring states passed bans.

Video and statement, April 2024

Attacked MUSC for following the new state law

In July 2024, after the Medical University of South Carolina stopped providing gender procedures in compliance with state law, Andrews called it an “inappropriate infiltration of politics into our state’s largest medical institution.”

“These children are not asking to be protected from their parents… What they need is protection from the South Carolina Republican Party.”

Statement, July 2024

Never said whether “care” includes puberty blockers

In 2022, Andrews said she does not support surgery for anyone under 18 and that such surgeries had “never been done in the Lowcountry.” What she did support was “evidence-based medical care, with parental consent, for teens struggling with gender identity issues.” She never specified whether that “care” included puberty blockers.

WCBD, 9/28/22 · WBTW debate, 10/13/22

The hospital later confirmed what it had been providing

In December 2022, after the election, MUSC confirmed in writing to state legislators that it “no longer provides pediatric/adolescent transgender hormonal care.” A student research review of the clinic’s decade of patients found 20% received puberty suppression hormones and 50% received cross-sex hormones.

Post and Courier, 12/19/22

Signaled support for boys in girls’ sports

In March 2020, when South Carolina lawmakers moved a bill to keep athletes on teams matching their sex, Andrews responded with a string of angry emojis. She has never said she supports keeping boys off girls’ teams.

Twitter, March 2020

Called it “disgusting” to keep Capitol women’s restrooms for women

In November 2024, Rep. Nancy Mace opposed letting incoming Rep. Sarah McBride, a transgender woman, use women’s restrooms in the Capitol complex. Andrews called Mace’s attack “disgusting” and “despicable.” She also wrote that while she had treated many children for constipation, “I have never seen anyone as full of shit as Nancy Mace.”

Personal Facebook and X, November 2024

“Not just to be tolerated, but to be… celebrated”

On her Senate campaign page during Pride Month, Andrews wrote that she is “proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with LGBTQ+ South Carolinians who deserve not just to be tolerated, but to be safe, seen, and celebrated.”

Campaign Facebook, August 2026

Accused federal agents of executing a protester

In January 2026, a man was shot by a Customs and Border Protection officer in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security said he had approached agents with a handgun and violently resisted being disarmed. Andrews rejected that account outright.

“Trump’s masked federal agents just executed another protester. Shot him in cold blood… Believe what you see. Not what they say.”

X, January 2026

Spread a claim ICE had already refuted

In January 2026, Andrews posted a video repeating the claim that ICE separated a young boy from his father. According to ICE, the father abandoned the child while fleeing agents, who worked to keep the boy out of the cold. Agents say the family in the home refused to take custody. Father and son were reunited at a processing center at the father’s own request.

Video post, January 2026

Called an ICE-related death “horrifying”

After a woman was killed in January 2026 while obstructing an ICE operation with her vehicle — video showed the vehicle moving toward agents — Andrews called the “killing” horrifying. Days later she amplified a post equating the incident to the Iranian government killing civilians.

X, January 2026

Opposed funding the border wall

In January 2019, Andrews publicly said she had called then-Rep. Joe Cunningham to urge the House to keep “holding strong and not funding the border wall.”

Twitter, January 2019

Opposed ending DACA

In September 2017, Andrews argued against ending the program on economic grounds: “If DACA ends, SC stands to lose over $252 million in GDP.” In June 2018 she called the policy of separating children from parents caught entering the country illegally a “stain on our country” and “a human rights violation.”

Twitter, 2017–2018

Demanded “justice” in the Jacob Blake shooting

In August 2020, Andrews shared a “Demand Justice for Jacob Blake” post. Blake was armed with a knife and continued moving toward a Kenosha officer after tasers failed. At the time he had an outstanding arrest warrant on charges of sexual assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a domestic violence incident.

Shared post, August 2020

Says her patients are proof of a public health crisis

Andrews consistently frames crime as a gun problem rather than a policing or prosecution problem. On the campaign trail she says: “Like every other pediatrician in this state and in this country, I have cared for children with bullet holes in them.” Her proposed remedies are gun restrictions.

Seneca Journal, 4/2/26

Called a local council’s mask vote a failure of leadership

When Mount Pleasant Town Council voted down a mask mandate on Sept. 1, 2020, Andrews wrote a letter to the editor saying she was “dismayed,” and asked, “When did we stop listening to health care experts and other scientists?” She closed: “This one is easy, folks. Wear your mask so our kids can go back to school.”

Post and Courier, 9/8/20

Backed universal masking in schools in 2021

At an August 2021 press conference with the state education and health departments, Andrews said “the delta variant changes how we think about this disease in children” and that universal masking in schools provides “maximum protection.” State law at the time barred districts from enforcing mandates.

WSPA, 8/7/21

Told Lowcountry residents they “failed” for reopening schools

In September 2020, Andrews publicly told her neighbors they had “failed” a science test by repealing a mask mandate and returning students to in-person learning. When Mount Pleasant lifted its mask mandate that same month, she posted that it was “so insane” and shared a petition demanding the mandate be brought back.

Twitter and Facebook, September 2020

Defended denying organ transplants to the unvaccinated

In February 2022, when roughly two dozen MUSC patients faced removal from the transplant list for declining a COVID vaccine, Rep. Nancy Mace called the policy “heartless.” Andrews fired back publicly.

“This is a dangerously misinformed take. Organs are a scarce resource that have always been allocated with stringent pre-transplant requirements, like vaccines.”

Post and Courier, 2/1/22

Dismissed “medical freedom” concerns as an insult

South Carolinians rallied in 2021 for access to COVID treatments their hospitals would not prescribe. At a September 2021 Senate Medical Affairs hearing, Andrews testified that any implication the state’s health care community was withholding treatments “is frankly an insult to our profession and threatens public trust in the work that we do.”

Bluffton Today, 10/10/21

Keeps a Fauci prayer candle — and hid it from TV cameras

In October 2020 Andrews called it “infuriating” that Nancy Mace called Dr. Anthony Fauci a liar, calling Fauci a “national hero.” In June 2024 she posted a photo of a prayer candle depicting Fauci as a Jesus figure: “Feels like a good day to light my Fauci candle.” She then joked with a campaign staffer that they used to hide the candle during TV interviews.

Twitter, October 2020 · Photo post, June 2024

Said U.S. Senator Tim Scott should be “checked for brain worms”

In May 2024, Andrews posted that U.S. Senator Tim Scott “should get checked for brain worms.”

X, May 2024

Called white women “the problem”

In July 2024, Andrews posted a video explaining the “problem” with her own demographic — that too many white women vote Republican. In October 2024, she warned that if white women don’t “get their shit together,” she doesn’t know what will happen to children and democracy.

Instagram, July 2024 · Public post, October 2024

Co-organized a “White Women for Harris” call

After President Biden left the 2024 race, Andrews was a co-organizer of a group led by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts to rally white women for Kamala Harris. Watts described the call as charging white women to “check their own privilege” and said: “White supremacism is in our own best interest.” A year later, Andrews called Watts the “epitome of a mentor/sponsor/friend.”

July 2024 · Instagram, June 2025

Pledged “active allyship” and “continuous unlearning”

In June 2020, Andrews wrote that it was “upon each one of us to listen, learn and be actively anti-racist” and pledged “to oppose racism and hate through active allyship, continuous unlearning, learning and listening.”

Twitter, June 2020

“School choice is a grift”

In January 2024, Andrews called school choice a “grift.” In September 2024, she posted: “School vouchers are a scam.”

X, January and September 2024

Mocked the idea that parental involvement helps kids

In January 2024, U.S. Senator Tim Scott promoted his parents’ rights bill with the line “Kids are better off when their parents are involved.” Andrews replied that it was “such a stupid thing to say it’s making my brain hurt.”

X, January 2024

“No, I will not take money from AIPAC”

Asked in a 2025 Reddit forum whether she would accept contributions from the pro-Israel lobby, Andrews answered flatly: “No, I will not take money from AIPAC.” She has repeated the pledge on social media.

Reddit AMA, 2025

Dodged the “genocide” question — and never mentioned Hamas

Asked directly whether Gaza constitutes genocide and whether she would halt weapons to Israel, Andrews avoided both questions. She said “experts are using the word genocide” without using it herself, said “whatever label you put on it is wrong,” and said “any U.S. arms sales need to comply with international law.” She did not mention the Hamas attack that started the war.

Reddit AMA, 2025

Shared a deceptively edited video of Sen. Graham

In March 2026, Andrews amplified an edited clip appearing to show Graham saying he stands with Israel rather than Americans. In the full clip, Graham is addressing antisemites and isolationists: “forget it, I’m not with you. I’m with Israel.”

X, March 2026

Opposed removing Venezuela’s dictator

After U.S. forces detained Nicolás Maduro, Andrews conceded he is a “brutal dictator” whom no one should defend — then said the operation “has nothing to do with democracy or helping the Venezuelan people,” claiming it was about seizing oil and handing profits to “billionaire buddies.”

X, 2026

Supports a government-run “public option”

Asked about single-payer health care in a 2025 Reddit forum, Andrews said she supports a “strong public option that guarantees everyone affordable coverage while letting folks keep private plans if they want.” She has also called for “fully funding Medicaid” and said the Affordable Care Act had a visible “direct, positive effect” on residents “almost immediately.”

Reddit AMA, 2025 · 2022 campaign

Wants to ban offshore drilling “everywhere”

In a 2022 interview, Andrews said she would push for a permanent ban on offshore drilling and wants to ban drilling “everywhere,” allowing production only on existing leases with no new ones issued. She says the long-term answer to gas prices is “eliminating our reliance on oil.”

The State, 5/22/22 · WCBD, 3/10/22

Supports full marijuana legalization

In an October 2022 statement, Andrews said she fully supports legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana, citing the medical benefits.

WCBD, 10/12/22

Said academic hospitals should have been more political

In a February 2025 Substack post, Andrews criticized academic medical centers for not taking political sides on abortion, gun policy, and gender medicine, accusing them of “abandoning science at the behest of anti-science Republicans.”

Substack, February 2025