Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would not support a federal abortion ban
Philadelphia:
Donald Trump called on religious supporters to go to the polls in a speech aimed at conservative Christian activists on Saturday, but only briefly mentioned the politically sensitive issue of abortion, an issue of central importance to the group.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington, the former president reiterated his position that abortion restrictions should be decided by voters on a state-by-state basis.
This position contradicts the views of most conservative Christians, and Trump’s reticence to push for or even discuss additional federal regulations shows how sensitive the issue has become for Republicans.
Trump has repeatedly said that Republicans risk electoral defeat if they take too strict a stance on abortion rights. The party’s dismal performance in the 2022 midterm congressional elections was largely attributed to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that year, which removed most constitutional protections for the procedure.
“We took abortion out of the federal government and back into the states. The people will decide, and that’s the way it should be,” Trump said.
“Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in exceptions for the mother’s life – rape and incest… You have to follow your heart. You also have to remember that you have to get elected,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments on abortion appeared to receive a lukewarm reception. Some in the crowd began shouting “No dead babies!” while he discussed the matter.
But there was no indication that the strongly pro-Trump public would support another candidate as the Nov. 5 general election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden approaches.
Trump received loud applause when he discussed several other proposals, including eliminating the Department of Education, a move supported by many conservative Christians who accuse the federal government of attacking faith-based teaching methods.
At several points in his speech, Trump called on Christians to go to the polls in November, prompting chants of “Vote!” of the crowd.
Trump claimed credit for nominating three conservative justices to the Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. Wade two years ago this Monday, eliminating the national right to abortion in a moment of triumph for conservatives.
However, Trump has repeatedly said he would not support a federal abortion ban, preferring to leave the issue up to individual states.
Ralph Reed, founder and president of the Faith & Freedom Coalition and a key Trump ally, previously said his group would continue to work toward restrictions at both the state and federal level.
To Philadelphia
Later on Saturday, Trump will hold a campaign rally at Temple University in a historically black area of Philadelphia, long a Democratic stronghold. Trump won just 5% of the vote in precincts within a half-mile radius of Temple’s main campus, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Trump’s campaign has made appealing to black and Hispanic voters, who make up more than half of Philadelphia’s population, a priority this cycle, encouraged by some opinion polls that indicate he may be gaining ground with these voters.
Trump has little chance of winning the city, as President Joe Biden, a Democrat, won 81.4% of the vote in Philadelphia County in 2020. But Trump could increase his chances by narrowing the margin in Philadelphia and surrounding counties, so critical to the overall count. in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that is hotly contested because it can swing either Republican or Democrat.
Trump’s campaign said he will use his speech in Philadelphia to talk about Biden’s handling of inflation, the southern border and crime, all key tenets of the Republican’s campaign for a second term.
William Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University, said he believed Trump’s main goal was to project his outreach to black voters across the country, similar to the rally he held in the Bronx borough of New York City last month. past.
“It’s a joke to go on national TV to say you’re in Philadelphia, to make the case that this is a black community,” Rosenberg said. “So maybe you’ll convince some undecided voters that Donald Trump isn’t so bad.”
Democrats have set up posters, billboards and kiosks in Philadelphia and on the Temple campus to promote Biden’s policies, including his efforts to forgive student debt, as well as to criticize Trump’s record with the black community.
State lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat, said black voters remember Trump’s history of promoting the bigoted conspiracy theory that questioned whether Barack Obama, the country’s first African-American president, was born in the United States, and the policies that he followed that they harmed the black working class.
“Donald Trump is in a black place, but Donald Trump doesn’t care about black people,” Kenyatta said at a press event at a Biden campaign office in Philadelphia, adding that Trump would “receive the kind of welcome he deserves” from the city.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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