President Biden on Tuesday condemned Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which takes effect in just over a week, placing the blame squarely on former President Trump.
In a brief campaign speech in Tampa, Biden criticized the presumptive Republican nominee for nominating the justices who ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion.
“Next week, one of the most extreme anti-abortion laws in the country will go into effect here in Florida. It’s criminalizing reproductive health care before women even know if they’re pregnant,” Biden said. “Let’s be very clear. There is one person responsible for this nightmare. And he is recognized and boasts about it. Donald Trump.”
Biden’s campaign is making abortion rights one of its main issues and intends to remind voters almost every day of Trump’s record on this issue.
Biden’s team is releasing ads featuring testimonials from women affected by state abortion bans, and Vice President Harris and other senior administration officials have been crisscrossing the country hammering Republicans and Trump on abortion restrictions.
Polls show that a majority of voters oppose abortion bans, and Republicans have suffered a series of losses at the polls that have been blamed on their abortion policy.
Florida has increasingly voted Republican in recent elections, but Tuesday’s speech was part of the Biden campaign’s effort to use the state Supreme Court’s abortion ruling as leverage to flip the state.
The court ruled earlier this month that there is no right to abortion in the state, upholding the 15-week abortion ban in a decision that automatically triggered a six-week ban to take effect 30 days later.
The campaign also pointed to a November ballot measure that Floridians can vote on to ensure access to abortion up to the point of viability, which is about 24 weeks. If the initiative passes, it will overturn the six-week ban.
Trump criticized the six-week ban in Florida as well as a near-total ban in Arizona. But he also said that decisions about the legality of abortion are rightfully being left to the states.
In his comments, Biden mocked Trump for selling Bibles for $60 and appealed to his support among evangelical voters.
“[Trump] described Dobbs’ decision as a miracle. Maybe it comes from that Bible he’s trying to sell,” Biden said.
“Guys, it wasn’t a miracle. It was a political deal… that he made with the evangelical base of the Republican Party to ignore their moral and character flaws in exchange for their commitment to nominate Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe,” Biden added.
Trump has said he does not support a federal abortion ban, but Biden has said Trump cannot be trusted.
“Don’t think he’s [not] making a deal now with the MAGA extremists to ban abortion nationwide in every state, because he’s succeeding,” Biden said.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
