Former President Trump remained coy when asked if he agreed with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) signing of a six-week abortion ban, continuing to avoid committing to federal abortion action as he seeks the GOP nomination.
In an interview published on Monday by The Messenger, Trump did not say whether he believed the six week ban in Florida went too far, insteading taking the question as an opportunity to bash DeSantis, his strongest competitor to be the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
“If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh,” Trump told the outlet.
The former president has been vague on federal abortion policy in his quest to get back into the White House. During his CNN town hall, Trump repeatedly avoided directly answering questions on a potential national abortion ban.
While he spoke in support of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year, Trump did not commit to signing a national abortion ban, only saying that the overturning of Roe provided “great negotiating ability” to pro-life groups.
Last month, the Trump campaign told The Washington Post that the Supreme Court’s decision to leave abortion access at the state level was the right way to go. This statement drew outrage from anti-abortion groups such as the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America which has asked that all GOP presidential candidates endorse a 15-week abortion ban.
Trump is far from the only candidate who has avoided directly taking on the question of a national abortion ban.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said last month that he would sign the “most conservative, pro-life legislation” if he were to become president, but still avoided specifying the type of ban he would support. He previously said he would “definitely” support a 20-week abortion ban.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), also running for president, has been more blunt on the matter of abortion, stating on Sunday that a Republican president would not be able to pass a national abortion ban because of how divided lawmakers in Congress are.
“For a national standard, I think we have to tell the American people the truth. In order to do a national standard, you’d have to have a majority of the House, 60 Senate votes, and a president. We haven’t had 60 pro-life senators in 100 years,” Haley said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
