Less than a day after saying the state's six-week ban was 'too short,' Trump bows to anti-abortion leaders
After months of Donald Trump is trying to recast himself as a moderate on abortion issues — even as the former president boasts about killing Roe v. Wade – He has finally bowed to anti-abortion leaders. On Friday, Trump announced that he would vote against a Florida ballot measure that would expand access to abortion.
The news comes just one day after he told NBC News that the state's current six-week lockdown was “too short” and that “there needs to be more time.” He added at the time that he would “vote that we need more than six weeks.”
However, his remarks on Thursday drew a backlash from his potential voters and Christian conservatives, who are a key component of his hold on the Republican Party. ProLife America president Marjorie Dannenfelser responded by saying that voting for Trump’s Florida measure “completely undermines” his previous opposition to abortion after five months of pregnancy.
With just two months left until the 2024 presidential election against Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump has stumbled as he once again tries to find a winning answer to please his allies.
Trump told a Fox News reporter on Friday that he disagreed with the six-week ban but would vote to keep it. “I think six weeks — it needs to be longer than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that since the early primaries when I heard about it. I disagreed with it,” Trump told Fox News. “At the same time, the Democrats are extreme, because nine months is just a ridiculous position where you can get an abortion in the ninth month. … So I’m going to vote no for that reason.”
By this point, it's surprising that Trump hasn't broken his back with the amount of hesitation he's done to win over mostly moderate-leaning and independent voters who want abortion to be legal, as well as anti-abortionists.
Harris criticized Trump after he pledged to vote against a bill that would enshrine women’s right to abortion in Florida. “Donald Trump just made his position on abortion crystal clear: He will vote to uphold an abortion ban so severe that it would take effect before many women even know they are pregnant,” the vice president said in a statement. Harris took the opportunity to reiterate her promise to sign legislation protecting abortion access nationwide: “I trust women to make their own health care decisions and I believe that the government should never come between a woman and her doctor.”
