By Associated Press
WASHINGTON: Former President Donald Trump said the federal government should play a тАЬvital roleтАЭ in opposing abortion but again failed to provide specifics on what national restrictions he would support if elected to the White House again.
TrumpтАЩs remarks to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning the national right to an abortion stood in contrast to that of his former vice president and 2024 rival Mike Pence.
Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged every GOP presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions at least as early as 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been reluctant to endorse a national ban and has suggested restrictions should be left to the states. He has even suggested that pushing for increased abortion restrictions would be a political liability for Republicans, despite his three Supreme Court nominees making up the majority of justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade last year.
Trump, in his speech before the Faith & Freedom CoalitionтАЩs annual conference, continued to offer a muddled answer. He said he believes тАЬthe greatest progress is now being made in the states, where everyone wanted to be.”
тАЬOne of the reasons they wanted Roe v. Wade terminated,” he said, “is to bring it back into the states where a lot of people feel strongly the greatest progress for pro-life is now being made.” But the former president also added, тАЬThere of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.тАЭ
Trump said he supports three exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases involving rape and incest or when the life of a mother is in danger.
He took full credit for his role in the overturning of the landmark ruling and said he was тАЬproud to be the most pro-life president in American history.тАЭ
Though white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to back Trump in 2016, his promises to appoint justices to the court who would overturn Roe,┬а┬аand the rulingтАЩs eventual overturning тАФ have earned him deep support in the evangelical movement.
As he took the stage Saturday, he received a standing ovation from the crowd of hundreds, with some attendees standing on their chairs to see him enter. The enthusiasm was markedly higher for Trump than it was the previous morning when Pence and a number of other presidential hopefuls addressed the conference.
One candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was met with boos when he criticized Trump in his remarks Friday.
On Saturday night, the crowd broke into sustained chants of тАЬWe want Trump!тАЭ halfway through the former president’s remarks.
тАЬWere your other candidates treated this way?тАЭ Trump said with a smile.
Trump, in his remarks, promised that if elected to the presidency again, he would appoint тАЬappoint rock-solid conservative judges in the moldтАЭ of Justice Clarence Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia. He also repeated false claims that heтАЩs made before that abortion rights supporters want to тАЬkill a babyтАЭ in the ninth month of pregnancy or even after birth.
The Republican former president also vowed that before Election Day next year, he will release the list of names of potential justices he would consider appointing to the Supreme Court.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as TrumpтАЩs closest rival for the GOP nomination, has made the promise of an even more conservative Supreme Court part of his pitch to attempt to differentiate himself from Trump.
DeSantis, who addressed the Faith and Freedom conference Friday, declared that if elected president, he would nominate and appoint Supreme Court justices in the mould of Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson WomenтАЩs Health Organization case last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
In a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis said he respects the three judges Trump appointed, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret, but said: тАЬI would say weтАЩll do better than that.тАЭ
тАЬNone of those three are at the same level” as Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson WomenтАЩs Health Organization case last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
тАЬI think they are the gold standard,” he said of Thomas and Alito, who were appointed by Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
DeSantis repeated that promise in his remarks at the Faith and Freedom conference Friday, vowing to appoint justices in the mould of Thomas and Alito and said he would тАЬstand and defend them against scurrilous attacks that youтАЩre seeing in the media and by left-wing groups.”
The Florida governor appeared to be referring to recent reports that Thomas and Alito accepted luxury trips from wealthy GOP donors but did not disclose them.
WASHINGTON: Former President Donald Trump said the federal government should play a тАЬvital roleтАЭ in opposing abortion but again failed to provide specifics on what national restrictions he would support if elected to the White House again.
TrumpтАЩs remarks to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning the national right to an abortion stood in contrast to that of his former vice president and 2024 rival Mike Pence.
Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged every GOP presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions at least as early as 15 weeks of pregnancy.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been reluctant to endorse a national ban and has suggested restrictions should be left to the states. He has even suggested that pushing for increased abortion restrictions would be a political liability for Republicans, despite his three Supreme Court nominees making up the majority of justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade last year.
Trump, in his speech before the Faith & Freedom CoalitionтАЩs annual conference, continued to offer a muddled answer. He said he believes тАЬthe greatest progress is now being made in the states, where everyone wanted to be.”
тАЬOne of the reasons they wanted Roe v. Wade terminated,” he said, “is to bring it back into the states where a lot of people feel strongly the greatest progress for pro-life is now being made.” But the former president also added, тАЬThere of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.тАЭ
Trump said he supports three exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases involving rape and incest or when the life of a mother is in danger.
He took full credit for his role in the overturning of the landmark ruling and said he was тАЬproud to be the most pro-life president in American history.тАЭ
Though white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to back Trump in 2016, his promises to appoint justices to the court who would overturn Roe,┬а┬аand the rulingтАЩs eventual overturning тАФ have earned him deep support in the evangelical movement.
As he took the stage Saturday, he received a standing ovation from the crowd of hundreds, with some attendees standing on their chairs to see him enter. The enthusiasm was markedly higher for Trump than it was the previous morning when Pence and a number of other presidential hopefuls addressed the conference.
One candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was met with boos when he criticized Trump in his remarks Friday.
On Saturday night, the crowd broke into sustained chants of тАЬWe want Trump!тАЭ halfway through the former president’s remarks.
тАЬWere your other candidates treated this way?тАЭ Trump said with a smile.
Trump, in his remarks, promised that if elected to the presidency again, he would appoint тАЬappoint rock-solid conservative judges in the moldтАЭ of Justice Clarence Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia. He also repeated false claims that heтАЩs made before that abortion rights supporters want to тАЬkill a babyтАЭ in the ninth month of pregnancy or even after birth.
The Republican former president also vowed that before Election Day next year, he will release the list of names of potential justices he would consider appointing to the Supreme Court.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as TrumpтАЩs closest rival for the GOP nomination, has made the promise of an even more conservative Supreme Court part of his pitch to attempt to differentiate himself from Trump.
DeSantis, who addressed the Faith and Freedom conference Friday, declared that if elected president, he would nominate and appoint Supreme Court justices in the mould of Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson WomenтАЩs Health Organization case last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
In a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis said he respects the three judges Trump appointed, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barret, but said: тАЬI would say weтАЩll do better than that.тАЭ
тАЬNone of those three are at the same level” as Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson WomenтАЩs Health Organization case last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
тАЬI think they are the gold standard,” he said of Thomas and Alito, who were appointed by Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
DeSantis repeated that promise in his remarks at the Faith and Freedom conference Friday, vowing to appoint justices in the mould of Thomas and Alito and said he would тАЬstand and defend them against scurrilous attacks that youтАЩre seeing in the media and by left-wing groups.”
The Florida governor appeared to be referring to recent reports that Thomas and Alito accepted luxury trips from wealthy GOP donors but did not disclose them.
