WASHINGTON: Former President donald trump said the federal government should play a “vital role” in opposing abortion but again he did not provide details on what national restrictions he would support if he were re-elected to the White House.
Trump’s comments to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court striking down the nation’s right to abortion stood in stark contrast to those of his former vice president and rival from 2024. mike pence.
Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged all republican presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions from at least 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Trump, the darling of the Republican Party, has been reluctant to endorse a national ban, suggesting that restrictions should be left up to the states. He has even suggested that further abortion restrictions would be a political liability for Republicans, despite the fact that his three Supreme Court nominees make up the majority of justices who voted to strike down Roe v. Wade last year.
Trump, in his address to the annual conference of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, went on to offer a mixed response. He said he believes “the most progress is now being made in the states, where everyone wanted to be.”
“One of the reasons they wanted Roe v. Wade’s end,” he said, “is to bring it back to the states where many people strongly believe that the most pro-life progress is now being made.”
But the former president also added: “Of course, there remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.”
Trump said he supports three exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases involving rape and incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.
He took full credit for his role in overturning the landmark ruling, saying he was “proud to be the most pro-life president in American history.”
Although white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to endorse Trump in 2016, his promises to appoint judges to the court who would overturn Roe, and the eventual overturning of the ruling, have earned him wide support in the evangelical movement.
When 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 noticeably higher for Trump than it was the morning before, when Pence and other presidential hopefuls addressed the conference.
One candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, received boos when he criticized Trump in his remarks on Friday.
On Saturday night, the crowd erupted into sustained chants of “We want Trump!” half of the ex-president’s statements.
“Were your other candidates treated this way?” Trump said with a smile.
Trump, in his remarks, promised that if he is re-elected to the presidency, he will appoint “rock-solid conservative justices in the cast” of Justice Clarence Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia. He also repeated false claims he has made before that abortion rights supporters want to “kill a baby” in the ninth month of pregnancy or even after delivery.
The former Republican president also promised that before next year’s election day he would publish the list of possible justices he would consider appointing to the Supreme Court.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as Trump’s closest rival for the Republican nomination, has made the promise of an even more conservative Supreme Court as part of his speech to try to differentiate himself from Trump.
DeSantis, who addressed the Faith and Freedom conference on Friday, declared that if elected president, he will nominate and appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
In a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis said he respects the three justices Trump appointed, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, but said, “I would say we’ll do better than that.”
“None of those three are on the same level” as Thomas and Judge Samuel Alito, he said.
“I think they are the gold standard,” he said of Thomas and Alito, who were appointed by Presidents George HW Bush and George W. Bush.
DeSantis repeated that promise in his remarks at the Faith and Freedom conference on Friday, vowing to appoint judges in the mold of Thomas and Alito and saying he would “defend them against the smear attacks you’re seeing in the media and from the left.” wing groups”.
The Florida governor appeared to be referring to recent reports that Thomas and Alito accepted luxury trips from wealthy Republican donors, but did not disclose them.
Trump’s comments to a group of influential evangelicals Saturday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court striking down the nation’s right to abortion stood in stark contrast to those of his former vice president and rival from 2024. mike pence.
Pence, speaking at the same conference a day earlier, challenged all republican presidential candidate to support the passage of a national ban on abortions from at least 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Trump, the darling of the Republican Party, has been reluctant to endorse a national ban, suggesting that restrictions should be left up to the states. He has even suggested that further abortion restrictions would be a political liability for Republicans, despite the fact that his three Supreme Court nominees make up the majority of justices who voted to strike down Roe v. Wade last year.
Trump, in his address to the annual conference of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, went on to offer a mixed response. He said he believes “the most progress is now being made in the states, where everyone wanted to be.”
“One of the reasons they wanted Roe v. Wade’s end,” he said, “is to bring it back to the states where many people strongly believe that the most pro-life progress is now being made.”
But the former president also added: “Of course, there remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life.”
Trump said he supports three exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases involving rape and incest or when the life of the mother is in danger.
He took full credit for his role in overturning the landmark ruling, saying he was “proud to be the most pro-life president in American history.”
Although white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to endorse Trump in 2016, his promises to appoint judges to the court who would overturn Roe, and the eventual overturning of the ruling, have earned him wide support in the evangelical movement.
When 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 noticeably higher for Trump than it was the morning before, when Pence and other presidential hopefuls addressed the conference.
One candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, received boos when he criticized Trump in his remarks on Friday.
On Saturday night, the crowd erupted into sustained chants of “We want Trump!” half of the ex-president’s statements.
“Were your other candidates treated this way?” Trump said with a smile.
Trump, in his remarks, promised that if he is re-elected to the presidency, he will appoint “rock-solid conservative justices in the cast” of Justice Clarence Thomas and former Justice Antonin Scalia. He also repeated false claims he has made before that abortion rights supporters want to “kill a baby” in the ninth month of pregnancy or even after delivery.
The former Republican president also promised that before next year’s election day he would publish the list of possible justices he would consider appointing to the Supreme Court.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seen as Trump’s closest rival for the Republican nomination, has made the promise of an even more conservative Supreme Court as part of his speech to try to differentiate himself from Trump.
DeSantis, who addressed the Faith and Freedom conference on Friday, declared that if elected president, he will nominate and appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, who ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last year that ended constitutional protections for abortion.
In a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis said he respects the three justices Trump appointed, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, but said, “I would say we’ll do better than that.”
“None of those three are on the same level” as Thomas and Judge Samuel Alito, he said.
“I think they are the gold standard,” he said of Thomas and Alito, who were appointed by Presidents George HW Bush and George W. Bush.
DeSantis repeated that promise in his remarks at the Faith and Freedom conference on Friday, vowing to appoint judges in the mold of Thomas and Alito and saying he would “defend them against the smear attacks you’re seeing in the media and from the left.” wing groups”.
The Florida governor appeared to be referring to recent reports that Thomas and Alito accepted luxury trips from wealthy Republican donors, but did not disclose them.
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