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Pressed on abortion in a recent interview, Trump blasted his rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for signing a law banning abortions after the baby has a detectable heartbeat. Trump declared, “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.” Trump is being honest. There is no reason to doubt that he said what he really believes: that restricting abortion to any meaningful extent is a terrible mistake and that he has no will to fight to protect human life in the womb. Before denouncing DeSantis (and, implicitly, every other Republican governor and state legislator who has...

Burying the lede a bit here, but I want to set this up so you can fully grasp what a problem was created with Trump’s last interview. In order for the pro-life movement to be victorious states need to be free to restrict or ban abortion-as-birth control. We are there right now — 24 stats have moved to ban, restrict, or are on the path to do so. This point was only obtained post-Roe with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The Dobbs case undid the Roe argument that a woman’s private decision to have an abortion was enshrined somewhere in...

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says Donald Trump’s recent statements on the abortion issue show the former president’s “values” are out of step with Iowa GOP voters. Trump said during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the six week abortion ban DeSantis signed into law this spring was a terrible mistake. “Donald Trump may think it’s terrible. I think protecting babies with heartbeats is noble and just and I’m proud to have signed the heartbeat bill in Florida and I know Iowa has similar legislation,” DeSantis says. “I don’t know how you can even make the claim that...

Former President Donald Trump plans to negotiate with Democrats on the issue of abortion if reelected in 2024, saying in a Meet the Press interview released on Sunday, “I think they are all going to like me. I think both sides are going to like me.” During a wide-ranging interview with NBC News moderator Kristen Welker, Trump repeatedly reiterated his intent to mediate on the issue of abortion if reelected and framed Democrats as extreme for supporting abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. He also declined to say if he believes unborn babies have a constitutional right to life...

Former President Donald Trump has drawn outrage from pro-life conservatives after he panned a six-week abortion ban championed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “terrible.” “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump, 77, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about the policy in an interview that aired Sunday. The 45th president’s remarks triggered backlash among anti-abortion activists, including from groups like Live Action and Students for Life,*** “Pathetic and shameful. Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe’s overturning,” Lila Rose of Live Action said on X, formerly...

Trump said members of his own party "speak very inarticulately about this subject. "I watch some of them without the exceptions, et cetera, et cetera," he said, referring to conservatives who don't support abortion exceptions in cases including abortion and rape. "I said, 'Other than certain parts of the country, you can’t — you’re not going to win on this issue. But you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks." "Because Democrats don’t want to be radical on the issue, most of them, some do," he continued. "They don’t want to be...

Former president Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, said a state abortion law signed by his top challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), which bans the procedure after six weeks, is “terrible.” In April, DeSantis signed the controversial law, which will go into effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds the state’s 15-week ban on abortion that he signed into law last spring. At a hearing this month, the Florida justices appeared open to upholding the limiting ban. Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” criticized DeSantis for being “willing to sign...