Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) predicted Sunday that former President Trump will not have the opportunity to sign a national abortion ban even if he is re-elected and wanted, arguing that the issue will never gain enough support in Congress.
When asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” if he disagrees with Trump’s remark that he is “not signing a national abortion ban,” Rubio said, “Well, he won’t sign one because there’s no way to get it passed. .
“I never claimed that we have 60 votes in the Senate and votes in the House and everything else in between,” he added.
Trump said last month that he would not sign a national abortion ban if he were re-elected and such a bill passed Congress and emphasized that abortion policy should be determined by individual states.
“Now the states have this and they are publishing what they want. It’s the will of the people,” Trump said when speaking to reporters in April.
Rubio suggested that Trump has signaled he “wants to negotiate” with Democrats on the issue.
“And I think what Trump has actually said is that what he wants to do is negotiate, I think he said this on this show, that he wants to negotiate with the Democrats on this, which I think, you know, in a country where you are trying to save unborn human lives and I support laws that do that, even if they don’t want everything I want them to have there,” Rubio said.
“That’s his goal. But that’s a statement of fact: He’ll never have the chance to sign this bill because right now we don’t have the votes to pass it. That doesn’t mean that’s not what I believe, it’s just kind of of the reality of politics”, he added.
“Meet the Press” anchor Kristen W.elker later pressed Rubio, whose name has been floated as a possible pick for Trump’s vice president, about the former president’s recent comment calling for a six-week abortion ban in Florida a “terrible thing, a terrible mistake.”
Rubio appeared to avoid Welker’s question about whether Trump was “wrong on this point.”
“Well, once again, I’m pro-life, so I support laws that save unborn human lives. Other people have different opinions about what our law should be,” Rubio said. “This law that you are referring to was passed by elected legislators in the state of Florida, members of the House who have to go back to their constituents every two years, senators who have to go back every four years.”
“I understand that these are two competing rights that clash,” he continued. “But I was wrong to support unborn human life because of the dignity of all human life. That’s my opinion. I want our laws to represent that. Other people have different opinions.”
Welker then pressed again, asking Rubio if he “disagrees” with Trump’s opposition to Florida’s six-week ban and if he supports it instead.
“But I think even within the pro-life movement, there are all kinds of disagreements about what the law should be. Some of it is practical…” Rubio responded, prompting Welker to ask again if he supports the ban.
“I support any bill that protects unborn human life, but I do not consider others in the pro-life movement who have a different view to be apostates,” Rubio responded.
Biden’s campaign last month quickly dismissed Trump’s comments about not signing the abortion ban, pointing to his record on the issue to argue that the former president would threaten access to the procedure if he were re-elected.
“Donald Trump is a lying liar,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa wrote on social platform X. “He endorsed a national abortion ban when he was president in 2018. His allies are talking about how they can ban abortion. abortion with or without Congress. Give me some time.”
As president, Trump’s White House supporteda House billwho banned most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and pressured the Senate to pass the legislation and send it to his desk. The measure, however, did not pass the Senate.
While the federal abortion ban will likely face many challenges in Congress, abortion advocates have warned that a second Trump term, regardless of congressional action, could threaten access to abortion medication.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
