Looks like a potential national abortion ban is becoming the hot button issue in the GOP primaries.
While most candidates mostly agree on Ukraine, trans issues, taxes, immigration and almost everything else, individual nuance can be hard to find.
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But since Donald Trump started slowly walking back his abortion stand, other candidates are following, while some are doing the opposite.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis went the other way by signing one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation at six weeks. Trump took him to task for doing so, implying that he’d be more liberal on the issue than DeSantis. “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’s campaign even told The Washington Post that they would be against a national abortion ban, although Trump himself hasn’t said one way or the other. He keeps trying to focus on other topics, probably a wise play should he want to win moderate voters turned off by the GOP’s extreme stance on the issue.
Former Ambassador Nikki Haley made some waves on the issue as well. Two weeks ago, she hosted a big event that seemed like a great opportunity to clarify her stance on abortion. She did anything but. “I won’t address every single question or angle, rather I aim to start a constructive conversation about where we go from here in our divided country.”
Now, on a national abortion ban, Haley poo-poos the idea. “At the federal level, it’s not realistic. It’s not being honest with the American people.” The statement implies that she’s personally supportive of a national ban, but won’t actually institute one, citing the logistics as to the reason why. It’s a cop-out, but it’s an official stance, and one that could be interpreted as moderate in comparison to DeSantis, for example.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, likely to jump into the race, is basing his campaign on his somewhat middle-of-the-road abortion stance. He keeps bringing up his 24-week abortion ban he instituted in the state, calling DeSantis’s much stricter one a losing stance. He’s against the national abortion ban, and may be running on that issue to project that he’s the most palatable to moderate voters in the general election.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, also likely to jump in, supports a national abortion ban, unsurprisingly. So does South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
Will it be a smart play if you’re trying to take down Trump? Hard to say, but Trump is very quietly and subtly painting himself as the most left leaning (on policy at least) candidate in the race.
He may have sucked all the oxygen out of the issue.
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