Trump Defends His Anti-Abortion Stance to Evangelical Group
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Donald Trump defended his anti-abortion position in a video address to an evangelical group a little more than a week after Rolling Stone reported that he has been telling allies on the religious right, “We are getting killed on abortion.”
“Those justices delivered a landmark victory for protecting innocent life. Nobody thought it was going to happen,” Trump told the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition in a video address Saturday night, subtly reminding the group that he appointed Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
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“They thought it would be another 50 years. Because Republicans had been trying to do it for exactly that period of time, 50 years,” he added.
Trump’s speech comes just two days after a conservative pro-life group criticized him for not endorsing a national ban. The ex-president has come under fire recently for saying that abortion “is an issue that should be decided at the state level.” According to Rolling Stone sources, Trump has privately told leaders on the religious right that taking a too conservative position on abortion could allow Democrats to portray him as an “extremist.”
The group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued a statement Thursday blasting Trump for his stance, saying it was a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.”
“Every promise to you I made as a candidate, I fulfilled as president,” Trump claimed in his video address (though he never did get Mexico to pay for the wall, did he?). He also bragged that his administration relocated the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, which drew applause from attendees.
Trump’s remarks appeared pre-recorded while other potential GOP presidential hopefuls, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former vice president Mike Pence, delivered their speeches to the group in person. The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event is considered the unofficial kick-off for the 2024 presidential campaign in the state.
During his remarks, Pence boasted that he was involved in efforts to overturn Roe v Wade, referring to the Trump administration’s Supreme Court appointments as “most important of all.” “We did that, Iowa,” Pence said. “I couldn’t be more proud to have been a small part of an administration that did just that.”
While Trump did not endorse a national ban on abortion — he has told advisors in off-the-record conversations that Republicans risk “losing big” if they go too far on the issue — his former vice president did.
“I’ll certainly support efforts to create a threshold of support for the unborn even at the national level,” Pence said. He went on to say that he is in favor of “the minimum of a 15-week ban.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not make a speech to the evangelical group. As the rivalry between Trump and DeSantis builds, the former president has been hiring the governor’s former staff members onto his own campaign. In a stark contrast to Trump’s slightly more moderate approach to abortion, DeSantis this month signed a restrictive six-week ban on the procedure in his state.
Meanwhile, on the national level, a conservative effort to outlaw the abortion pill mifepristone is making its way through the courts. On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered a stay on a lower court victory by anti-abortion advocates attempting to force the FDA to rescind its approval of the drug.
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