Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday blasted former President Donald Trump as “not pro-life” and claimed the former president “flipped” on the abortion issue.
“Of course not,” DeSantis said at a CNN City Council meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, when asked if Trump was “pro-life.”
“So when you say pro-life protections are a ‘terrible thing,’ by definition you are not pro-life,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis referred to comments President Trump made on NBC's “Meet the Press” last year, calling DeSantis' decision to sign the six-week abortion ban “a terrible thing.”
“I think what he did was a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. But we'll come up with the numbers, but at the same time the Democrats will go out in six months, seven months, eight months and get abortions.” I'm not going to admit it,” Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. When asked if he supported a five- or six-week abortion ban.
The abortion issue has plagued Republican candidates since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year. The issue continues to drive turnout among Democratic voters and sway Republicans and even independent voters.
President Trump is trying to walk a fine line on the issue, largely dodging questions about whether he supports restrictions on access to medical procedures at the federal level. But he also previously pointed to his role in appointing the three justices who formed the majority opinion in the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
DeSantis has said he supports federal restrictions in 15 weeks, but former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said Republicans do not have the 60 votes in the Senate needed to pass federal restrictions. , argued that a “consensus” needed to be found.
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