A few points and a lot of tweets about abortion

Despite predictions in the immediate aftermath of Dobbs that abortion would not be that big a deal compared to issues like inflation,  it has only grown in importance. Republicans are scared and Democrats are smelling blood because there is no position for GOP politicians in any but the safest districts that satisfies the base without being toxic in a general election, at least not given the own the libs ratcheting action that keeps the party's candidates from back away from unpopular stands.

There is, ,the possibility of telling the base one thing and the rest of us something else, an approach that requires the press to meet the lies halfway. Fortunately for Trump, we have just such a press.

Former President Donald Trump’s strategy of ducking questions on abortion requires mainstream reporters to let him off the hook and leave pro-choice swing voters with the false impression that he is more moderate than he actually is. So far, it’s working.https://t.co/kcDMkKZGpG

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 8, 2024

From Kate Riga:

It’s a clear effort to triangulate on an issue that has cost Republicans dearly since the Dobbs ruling. And more importantly to Trump, this is the first election he’ll be running in since then. It’s a politically transparent attempt to lure back the voters, many of them women, who have defected due to abortion extremism. 

It’s also, obviously, baloney. 

Nowhere in the video does Trump say that his devotion to state autonomy is so great that he won’t sign a federal ban, should he win the White House and his party, Congress.

He doesn’t promise not to appoint a Food and Drug Administration commissioner who would revoke the authorization of abortion drug mifepristone, something anti-abortion activists are trying to do in federal court currently (the Supreme Court is poised to hand down a decision on reimposing restrictions on the drug). He doesn’t take the 19th century Comstock Act off the table, something his Department of Justice could use without any new legislation to keep mifepristone and its (currently) less regulated partner, misoprostol, from being mailed. 

He’s making a bet that feigned moderation will be enough to see him through the election, when he will then be free to impose whichever restrictions his anti-abortion supporters demand. 

Part of that bet depends on the credulity of mainstream media outlets to buy his new framing, despite his frequent crowing about overturning Roe, and his very recent willingness to embrace national gestational bans (he supported a 16 week one, like, a month and a half ago, per a report from the New York Times). But betting on the goldfish-like memories of the big outlets is always a safe one.

NYT: Trump Says Abortion Restrictions Should Be Left to the States

Washington Post: Trump says abortion should be left to states, does not endorse national limit

And Kate's boss.

LOL Axios says that Trump ruled out a national abortion ban (which he clearly didn't) and that now that's over. pic.twitter.com/0omTdhwQTy

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 9, 2024

So Politico’s take is slightly better than Axios’s but still went full hooked fish, claiming he is against a national ban which he did not in fact say. pic.twitter.com/ssA0PlIv1f

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 9, 2024

Though in defense of at least part of that organization.

Hooray Politico Nightly for going there: "a close read of his remarks, delivered today, reveals he’s resolved virtually nothing." https://t.co/jpDCx8CVZg

— Dan Froomkin (PressWatchers.org) (@froomkin) April 8, 2024

There are still some call-a-spade-a-spade journalists out there. More importantly for this election, there are deep-pocketed Democrats who can't wait to go on the attack starting with this devastating ad.

This is a painful story that so many families around America now know too well: Amanda was denied the medical care she needed, and it nearly took her life. More than 1 in 3 women in America now lives under an abortion ban, with more on the way. Donald Trump did this. pic.twitter.com/2vH8EdzIw8

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 8, 2024

A friend of mine also saw this ad discussed on PBS News Hour.

MSNBC plays our new ad airing as part of a $30 million ad campaign after Trump bragged about extreme abortion bans across the country pic.twitter.com/Bcg3TOZtII

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

 

Trump has given the Biden/Harris campaign plenty to work with.

Here’s Trump saying there has to be some sort of punishment for women who have abortions pic.twitter.com/TZxOQ1Cp5a

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) April 8, 2024

Trump: I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of Roe v. Wade pic.twitter.com/VXEik7pedV

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Trump brags about ending a woman’s right to choose: Everybody thought it wouldn’t ever happen, now it did pic.twitter.com/mLVoD4rSTd

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Here is a montage of Donald Trump endorsing abortion bans that criminalize doctors, threaten IVF, and force rape victims to give birth pic.twitter.com/1aBqzm1fgF

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 9, 2024

Louisiana has an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest starting at conception. The state also has penalties of up to *15 years in prison* for doctors who perform abortion care. Trump says he supports this. pic.twitter.com/qltzeJqFQo

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Arizona has a dangerous abortion ban in effect with no exceptions for rape and incest and carries felony charges for health care providers. Republicans in the state are attempting to bring back an even more extreme abortion ban from 1864, which also has no exceptions for rape… pic.twitter.com/29ThVylgD9

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Trump dice que respalda una prohibición extrema del aborto en todo el país, que criminaliza a doctores, amenaza la fertilización in vitro, y obliga a víctimas de violación a dar a luz: “Eso es lo que será” pic.twitter.com/KF77hfp25u

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Florida Republican who helped pass an extreme 6-week abortion ban caught on hot mic to Trump: “I appreciate what you did on abortion” pic.twitter.com/q8fMEq5O8K

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Q: Do you think a national abortion ban could be politically acceptable? Trump: We're going to find out pic.twitter.com/2zWlzGiY8z

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Trump brags about overturning Roe v. Wade: I did it. I’m proud to have done it. It was a miracle pic.twitter.com/qMN9b1YVPs

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

Trump's supporters are also providing ammo for the Democrats.

Top Trump advocate Charlie Kirk: Joe Biden’s position is to nationalize Roe v. Wade. In fact, his official position is that no county should be without abortion access pic.twitter.com/ZLnrJKCwjh

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

I remain amazed that Fox, to their credit (other than their polling operation, when's the last time you heard me say that?) has kept Tarlov on the air.

.@JessicaTarlov: Trump is supporting 14 states that ban abortion in all cases, including rape and incest. He wants to allow laws that force people like Kate Cox to flee Texas and a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who had to flee to get care pic.twitter.com/zGvf8NBK9N

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 8, 2024

One of the most interesting parts of the story has been the reaction from the militant anti-abortion wing.

22 Republican anti-abortion activists with a combined 14.6 million followers on Twitter made posts ripping Trump’s statement on abortion today. Story highlights…https://t.co/zeAaIMTFVy

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

I mean, he admitted it. pic.twitter.com/pIWRvPHMZK

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 9, 2024

When you’ve lost Sorbo. pic.twitter.com/P7MN16SGpH

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

Biden slams Trump’s abortion statement while a Senior Advisor to Rand Paul said it was the “worse statement on Life” he’s ever seen and even Lindsey said he doesn’t agree with it. Story …https://t.co/ToxYt194i9

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

Pence slams Trump’s abortion statement. pic.twitter.com/e5A56Wdu4f

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

And the counter-reaction.

It doesn’t seem like their hatred of Pence is dissipating over time. pic.twitter.com/k2KVSHqpO0

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

MAJOR BREAKING: Trump accepts responsibility for a failure for first time in his life. pic.twitter.com/A8y9HUBys9

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 8, 2024

And the inevitable pockets of capitulation. (Again from Kate Riga.)

“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position,” Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement, adding that “leave it to the states” cedes the debate to Democrats.

But, but, but: “With lives on the line, SBA Pro-Life America and the pro-life grassroots will work tirelessly to defeat President Biden and extreme congressional Democrats.”

No skin off Trump’s back then! 

“We clearly have some work to do to educate President Trump in the many ways that abortion has been made federal. But with the mutual goals of supporting families and welcoming young children, I can work with this,” Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins tweeted. 

It is easy to read too much into this anger from the right, but it is perhaps just as easy to read too little. None of these people are going to vote for Biden, but some of them may not make quite the same effort to show up for Trump either with their checkbooks or at the polls. 

And finally, there's the question of how Trump will deal with the cold shoulder from some of his previously most adoring followers. I realize that I'm not supposed to use psychological terms to describe public figures, but how can we describe Trump as anything other than a narcissist? He craves love and attention and he desperately wants to spike the ball in Biden and the Democrats' faces by bragging about Dobbs. Does he have the self-control to resist going off script over the next seven months and tell a cheering crowd that he will personally end abortion in the United States?