When former President Donald Trump blinked in the abortion debate, he may be his biggest rival, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is jumping at the opportunity to fight him over a key 2024 election issue in the Republican Party. Party primaries will become divisive. in general.
DeSantis is expected to publicly announce his plans for the presidency in the coming weeks, attacking Trump directly on Tuesday after the current Republican presidential front-runner suggestion Florida’s new six-week abortion ban is ‘too harsh’
Asked about the remarks, DeSantis said the legislation he signed “maybe 99 percent of pro-life supporters.”
The governor noted that Trump shied away from whether he would support the bill.
“As a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer to, ‘Would you sign the heartbeat bill that Florida did? It has all the exceptions that people talk about?'” he said.
“The legislature came up, I signed the bill, and I’m proud to have done so,” DeSantis said, adding, “He’s not going to answer whether he’s going to sign it.”
The governor’s remarks at a bill-signing event marked a rare rebuttal to Trump, who has spent months mounting attacks on his potential chief rival that have largely gone unanswered.
Trump was the main catalyst in the fatal blow to federal abortion rights last year, as he appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. The stunning ruling fulfills Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to put abortion law back in the hands of the states.
It’s the biggest victory ever for conservatives who oppose abortion protections, which have been their rallying cry for decades. But it provoked a strong backlash.
Many voters, outraged by the sudden loss of nearly five years of constitutional rights, flocked to November’s midterm elections, with Democrats generally supporting abortion rights. Exceeded expectations for strong Republican support. investigation Shows that the High Court ruling has galvanized turnout among young voters, women and first-time general election voters.
Now, as he searches for re-election in the White House, Trump has shown relatively little interest in showing off his record on abortion. Asked to detail what his abortion agenda would look like if he wins in 2024, the combative former president opted for a softer, less firm tone than some of his rivals.
Trump himself highlighted the contrast when asked in a recent interview about the six-week abortion ban DeSantis had just signed in Florida.
“Many in the anti-abortion movement thought it was too harsh,” Trump said in an interview published Monday. Messenger. He disputed whether he felt the same way, or whether he would sign a similar ban.
“I’m looking at all the alternatives. I’m looking at a lot of alternatives,” Trump said.
At a recent CNN town hall, he was similarly uncertain, refusing to say whether he would sign a federal abortion ban or what other policies he might support.
“What I do is negotiate and make people happy,” Trump said, while defending his efforts to lead to Roe’s reversal.
Trump may be considering general election audience: Nation vote Tends to show that a majority of voters support abortion rights, especially after the Supreme Court ruling.Survey also shows voters consider the issue Extremely important give them.
President Joe Biden has taken notice: His re-election announcement video lashed out at what he called Republican “MAGA extremists” who are bent on “determining which health care decisions women can make.”
But DeSantis’ willingness to hit Trump from the right on abortion may also be a strategy.recent wall street journal polling found that an overwhelming majority of likely Republican primary voters (68% to 27%) support banning most abortions after six weeks.
These numbers may embolden the governor, who otherwise appears to be pulling out all the stops avoid alienate A large swath of Republican voters remains highly sensitive to Trump’s criticism.
Other candidates, both those who have already announced their bids and those who are considering taking the plunge, appear to be doing their own calculations.
Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, has reiterated his staunchly anti-abortion views as he appears to be building his own bid for the White House.He also opposed mifepristone, a widely used abortion drug, saying he wanted to take it close the market.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who formed the Republican presidential scouting committee last month, said he supports federal abortion ban After 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Former UN ambassador.Meanwhile, Nikki Haley is known for taking up the abortion debate head on speech The next president must find a “national consensus.”