Former President Trump’s attempt to walk a political tightrope on abortion could be tested by Thursday’s debate, which provides an opportunity for moderators — and President Biden — to try to pin him down on the details of his policy.
Trump has treaded carefully on this explosive issue as he and other Republicans try to placate their base without losing moderate Republicans and independents. There were no explicit campaign promises from Trump on abortion, despite lobbying from anti-abortion groups.
The former president decided that abortion is a matter for the states, but avoided talking about further details, including the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.
Still, Trump regularly takes credit for overturning Roe v. Wade. Wade for the Supreme Court and criticized blue states that have enacted abortion protections. He also attacked red states like Florida and Arizona, which he said went too far with their restrictions.
Trump has a history of avoiding taking a direct stance on controversial issues, often leaving room to change positions or back down when politically expedient.
Strategists expect him to follow the same playbook during the debate.
“I hope Jake Tapper and Dana Bash really try to pressure him and take his stance, but pressuring him is like trying to press Jell-O against a wall,” said Michael Starr Hopkins, a Hillary Clinton alumnus and former president. Obama’s presidential campaigns and an opinion writer for The Hill.
Trump and Biden will face off in Atlanta in their first presidential debate this year, which will be hosted by CNN. The event is unique – although it offers voters the first chance of the cycle to see the two men side by side as they debate political issues and current events, breaking new ground will be a challenge because both have long records as president.
The Biden campaign and Democrats have attacked Trump on abortion throughout the election cycle. Trump was even criticized by his former Republican rivals for his position, although it was not enough to oust him in the Republican race for the White House.
In April, Trump teased that he would make a big announcement about abortion.
But that ad represented a four-minute video posted on his platform Truth Social, in which he argued that the issue of abortion should be up to the states, while staying away from the issue of federal restrictions around abortion access.
“The states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, state law,” he said.
During an interview with Time magazine in April, Trump said he has “pretty strong opinions” about whether women should have access to mifepristone and would make an announcement “probably next week.”
But that announcement never came.
Anti-abortion activists have tried to pressure Trump to be more explicit about his plans and hope he will be clear about his position during the debate.
“Pro-life Americans want to hear President Trump unequivocally defend pro-life principles in the party platform, articulate the pro-life achievements of his administration, and outline a clear plan to protect and support families, including all pre-life children. born, in a second term. ,” Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action, a social media-driven anti-abortion group, said in a statement to The Hill.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the politically powerful SBA Pro-Life America, said she wants Trump to attack rather than allow Biden to define his position.
The SBA supports Trump but will not officially support him because he will not publicly commit to a 15-week ban.
“One of the most powerful moves Trump can make during the debate is to hold Biden’s feet to the fire about where he draws the line on abortion,” Dannenfelser said in an email to The Hill. “Recent polls show that three-quarters of voters would limit abortion to 15 weeks of pregnancy, a point at which babies feel pain at the latest.”
Still, Trump’s position on abortion is now essentially the official Republican position on abortion, shared by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. ).
Jason Cabel Roe, former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party, said the fact that top Republicans agree that abortion should be a state issue neutralizes a potential attack alleging that Trump wants a national abortion ban.
“I think voters will see the Trump pattern as the Republican position on this. So you have the potential next president, the current [minority] leader, the current speaker of the House, all saying that a federal ban is not on the table. There’s not much left for Democrats to say,” Roe said.
Democrats and the Biden campaign have made it clear that they blame Trump for all efforts to limit reproductive rights since the Supreme Court justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Wade, two years ago.
“Donald Trump is solely responsible for this nightmare,” Biden said in a statement through his campaign, marking the two-year anniversary of the ruling that overturned Roe. “For him, these cruel state bans are ‘a beautiful thing to watch’ – and they are just beginning.”
Philippe Reines, a former senior advisor to Hillary Clinton who played Trump during the 2016 debate prep, explained that if he were one of the moderators or Biden, he would not allow Trump to retreat into his comfort zone of “leaving it up to the states.” . without pressing any further.
“For years, the crutch Republicans used was ‘leave it to the states.’ I wouldn’t let him use that code, because that code means something very different now,” Reines said.
“Now this has been left up to the states, and some states are doing some pretty draconian things,” Reines said.
While his stance on abortion appears strong, Roe said he believes Trump is vulnerable on other reproductive rights issues, such as contraception and in vitro fertilization.
“I think there needs to be some clarity in the message on this, and not just from Trump but from all the Republican candidates… I haven’t really seen an effort to unify the message on this and get people on the same script,” Roe he said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
