Many questions are currently being raised about where exactly former president Donald Trump stands on the issue of abortion.
What caused the questions to be raised was Trump's recent appearance on MSNBC's Meet the Press.
There, Trump appeared to withdraw from the firm, anti-abortion stance he had adopted throughout his presidency. He did so by criticizing Florida's six-week abortion ban and by saying that he would work with Democrats to pass some sort of abortion legislation.
During the interview, Trump, in fact, said that he thinks Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) "did a terrible thing" and made "a terrible mistake" by signing the six-week abortion ban.
Up until this interview, there was no doubt about where Trump stood on the abortion issue: he was anti-abortion and pro-life, and he was proud of it.
In speeches, Trump has repeatedly touted the fact that he appointed the three U.S. Supreme Court Justices - Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett - who helped to overturn the landmark pro-abortion case Roe v. Wade, returning the controversial abortion issue back to the people and their state legislators.
But, Trump did more than just that. Nicholas Sandmann recently recalled the pro-life speech that Trump gave at the March for Life.
"We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create . . ." Sanmann quoted Trump as saying.
Now, however, many are not sure where Trump stands on the abortion issue, and some even believe that he has abandoned his pro-life stance. Trump is even being seriously criticized by some of his supporters.
Amid the criticism, Trump decided to take to social media, presumably to clear the air. There, he began by, once again, touting the fact that he appointed the Supreme Court justices who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Trump began:
I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible, end Roe v. Wade. For 52 years, people talked, spent vast amounts of money, but couldn’t get the job done. I got the job done! Thanks to the three great Supreme Court Justices I appointed, this issue has been returned to the States, where all Legal Scholars, on both sides, felt it should be. Now the Pro Life Community has TREMENDOUS NEGOTIATING POWER…
From there, Trump attempted to clarify his stand on abortion, writing, "Like Ronald Reagan before me, I believe in the three exceptions for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother." Trump explained, "Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win Elections, we would probably lose the Majorities in 2024, and perhaps the Presidency itself, but you must follow your HEART!"
Trump continued:
We have to expose the Democrats, like Crooked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as being the true Radicals on the Abortion issue, in that they allow the killing of babies in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th months, and even after birth. But it was OK to “rip the baby out of the womb” under Roe v. Wade, and destroy a living soul. Now, with Roe v. Wade no longer, the power to negotiate is with the Pro Life Movement, not the Radical Left Democrats who are so willing to destroy Life!
This appears to be the rationale behind Trump's remarks during the MSNBC interview, namely, that he said what he said because he believes that it is necessary to win elections. From a political point of view, this may be correct. The key question, though, will be whether Trump gains more votes than he loses with this strategy. Time will tell.
