On the national level, powerful anti-abortion groups and evangelical activists have settled on getting 15-week ban pledges from Republican presidential candidates. Here’s where the field of prominent Republican hopefuls, announced and unannounced, stands right now:
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s position, in particular, matches exactly what North Carolina Republicans rushed to do as soon as they had the votes. They went as conservative as they could, as fast as they could and they plan to go back for more bites at the apple as they become available.
At the CNN town hall, Trump assiduously avoided pledging to sign a national abortion ban while signaling that something as strict as 2 weeks might be on the table, which was wild.
TRUMP: Some people are at six weeks; some people are at three weeks, two weeks.
COLLINS: Where’s President Trump?
TRUMP: President Trump is going to make a determination what he thinks is great for the country and what’s fair for the country.
A contingent of anti-abortion groups were thrilled with Trump’s performance after they had lobbied him to be more aggressive on the issue, reported the Washington Post. They had been alarmed by the Trump campaign’s original stance that restrictions “should be decided at the state level.”
This came after Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina traveled to Mar-a-Lago last week to apprise Trump of polling supposedly showing majority support for banning the procedure after 15 weeks.
The groups specifically sought to stymie the idea that abortion should be left to the states, lest Trump set that standard for the GOP field in front of a live national audience. “The worst answer is the states’ rights issue,” Graham told the Post. “We tried that with slavery. It didn’t work very well.”
In other words, forced birther groups are laser-focused on enacting a federal abortion ban. And they didn’t rig this court to let this golden opportunity pass by.
During the Mar-a-Lago meeting, they reminded Trump of the gruesome language he had used in 2016 to describe some type of imaginary late-term abortion, and indeed, two days later, Trump revisited that demented description in the town hall, nodding to their zealotry.
“Remember the debate with Hillary Clinton?” Trump asked CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins. “And I said, ‘Rip the baby out of the womb at the end of the ninth month, they will kill the baby in the ninth month.’”
Trump’s non-specific signaling to the anti-abortion groups is reminiscent of his Proud Boys shout out during a 2020 debate for them to “stand back and stand by” just several months before they became an integral part of the conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.
“Some people are at three weeks, two weeks,” Trump said at the town hall. Actually, no one is talking three or two weeks—unless one counts Pence’s total abortion ban. But Trump knew exactly what to say to thrill the anti-abortion zealots, just like he knew exactly what to say to thrill the Proud Boys.
Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win joins Markos and Kerry to talk about the new messaging the Democratic Party’s national candidates are employing going into 2024. Ancona was right about the messaging needed to win the midterms, and we think she’s right about 2024.
