'The last thing we need': Core part of Trump’s base threatens to walk away over key issue

30 August 2024

Former President Donald Trump, in recent weeks, has been trying to paint himself as a moderate on the abortion issue — and has been drawing criticism from both Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign and anti-abortion activists in the process.

The 2024 GOP presidential nominee continues to praise the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling — bragging that he helped bring abortion laws "back to the states." And Democrats have been attacking him vigorously for it.

But Trump, fearing that abortion could be a political liability for him, criticized Florida's six-week abortion ban as "too short" during an interview with NBC News — much to the dismay of anti-abortion activists.

According to NBC News' Sahil Kapur, "The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking losing support from a key bloc of the party's base. Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called Trump on Thursday, (August 29) to ask for clarity on his comments, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation."

Kapur adds, "Trump told her that he didn’t state a position on an amendment on his home state’s ballot this fall, which would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy."

Dannenfelser, Kapur reports, told Trump it was "imperative that you're clear because there's confusion now that you may be in support of this."

During that NBC News interview, Trump also said, "I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks" on abortion policy.

On X, formerly Twitter, Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins posted, "My phone is blowing up with @SFLAction volunteers who no longer will door knock for President Trump if this is not corrected. With polls neck and neck, this is the last thing we need right now to defeat Kamala's pro-abortion extremism."

Far-right radio host Erick Erickson was highly critical of Trump as well, tweeting, "If Donald Trump loses in November, it will be his improvisational approach to abortion that alienated the pro-life community that costs him victory."

Evangelical Christian fundamentalist Albert Mohler tweeted, "Former President Trump now appears determined to undermine his prolife supporters. His criticism of Florida abortion restrictions & his call for government funding of IVF & his recent statement about “reproductive rights” seem almost calculated to alienate prolife voters.

Read NBC News' full article at this link.

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