The Great Orange Evil tries to bullshit his way out of the abortion issue.
By kos for Daily Kos
Daily Kos Staff
at
Under pressure to clarify his position on abortion, Donald Trump released a video explanation on Monday that, quite effectively, pissed everyone off and made no one happy. And when called on it, he lost his mind, crapping on key allies.
Given Trump is who he is, expect this to get worse over the coming weeks and months.
To recap, Trump:
- Took credit for ending Roe v. Wade, claiming that “all legal scholars” demanded it.
- Said that his “view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” even though 21 states ban or severely restrict it.
- Claimed, “Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing,” without saying what the right thing is.
- Compared himself to Ronald Reagan, saying, “I am strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.” Exceptions to what, Donnie? He couldn’t bring himself to say the word “ban,” but that’s the only thing that requires exceptions.
- Admitted that the abortion issue is crushing him, ending his video with this declaration: “We must win. We have to win.”
In short, Trump both advocated for a ban, fueling the very pro-abortion energy that has electorally cost Republicans so dearly over the past two cycles, while also refusing to outright call for a ban, claiming that his own political exigencies were more important. Yet conservatives have backed themselves into a corner—if abortion is murder, then any compromise is an obscenity. That’s why these same zealots are going after IVF and contraceptives.
Some liberal commentators tried to find genius in Trump’s incoherent video, arguing that it was a manufactured fight between Trump and his party’s anti-abortion wing to make him look “reasonable” to swing voters. Perhaps there are some pro-choice women in the exurbs struggling with their vote, and some strategic ambiguity might’ve made their pro-Trump vote more palatable.
If this was Trump’s goal and intent, he would make his statement, then shut up about it. If asked by reporters, he could simply refer them back to the video, “I already answered that question, if you would be so kind as to go back to my video, it’s all been adequately addressed!” After a while, reporters would get tired of asking, and the issue would take an inevitable back seat in the media to Trump’s next outrage.
But of course, the idea that Trump would be strategic or shut up about anything is hilariously misguided. So rather than let the statement stand on its own, Trump—who claims he wants to unite the country—decided to go to war with his own supporters.
Just hours after he released his video, Trump took aim at Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the rabidly anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Dannenfelser told Politico that while her group was focused on defeating President Joe Biden, “We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position. Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy.”
Graham’s sin was saying, “I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue. I will continue to advocate that there should be a national minimum standard limiting abortion at 15 weeks.” Quelle horreur!
If this has been a coordinated charade to make Trump look more reasonable, then hurray. Mission would’ve been accomplished, particularly since both Dannenfelser and Graham took pains to stress that they are still Trump allies and still focused on defeating Biden. Trump’s subsequent temper tantrum proved that that was never the case.
“Many Good Republicans lost Elections because of this Issue, and people like Lindsey Graham, that are unrelenting, are handing Democrats their dream of the House, Senate, and perhaps even the Presidency,” he ranted on Truth Social. In a subsequent post, he added: “When the Supreme Court had the courage to do the right thing LEGALLY, and terminate Roe v. Wade, all of those people, including Lindsey Graham and Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony that were ‘hardliners’, one day after the Victory, were gone and of absolutely no help, as the Democrats staged rallies and won Elections they should never have won. Lindsey, Marjorie, and others fought for years, unsuccessfully, until I came along and got the job done. Then they were gone, never to be heard from again, until now.”
His attacks on Graham continued throughout the day.
Again, the smart move would’ve been to issue that ambiguous statement, then shut the hell up. Instead, Trump has taken a one-day story and given it follow-up legs. And he’s doing it both by attacking one of the most critically important constituencies in his party—anti-abortion groups and voters. Indeed, attacking Dannenfelser in this fashion would be akin to Biden going after the leadership of the AFL-CIO. It might not be political suicide, but it’s certainly politically punching oneself in the face.
Even the use of the political pejorative “hardliner” to describe the two is telling, painting them as unreasonable and uncompromising. But why shouldn’t they be uncompromising? They believe a fertilized egg deserves the same rights as a living, breathing human being. You can’t compromise on murder. You would never hear anyone say, “Killing a person is murder, but let’s compromise and allow murder until the age of 12.”
Trump is literally mocking their beliefs, saying that winning his election and avoiding his avalanche of legal troubles is more important than what they define as “life.” None of this should surprise any of us. I’m still in wonder that no woman has come forward yet to admit that Trump paid for their abortion. The chance of Trump going through his life without paying for one is around zero, plus or minus zero. But such hypocrisy never stopped his deluded base before. As one recent popular Tweet put it roughly (and I can’t find it to link to it): “The Christian Right spent years warning against the anti-Christ, only to buy $65 Bibles from him when he finally showed up.”
To be fair, Trump is in a lose-lose situation. He’s right that getting rid of Roe has electorally killed Republicans, and he must be seeing polling showing his own vulnerability to the issue. Trump didn’t come up with the word “hardliner” by himself; it’s what his advisers are calling the anti-abortion zealots dragging Republicans down.
On the other hand, as he admits at the start of the video, he’s the guy who killed Roe. That’s not a needle that can be threaded, no matter how desperate Trump is to take it off the table.
“By allowing the States to make their decision, and hoping that most Republicans running for Office will have the sense, although they must always follow their heart, to require the EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother, we have taken the Abortion Issue largely out of play,” a deluded Trump tweeted at his intra-party critics.
But the issue will never be out of play. It will be the issue that defines this campaign, and Biden is leaning heavily into it. The best, most deft communicator would have a hard time navigating that political minefield, and Trump isn’t the best communicator, and certainly nowhere near the word “deft.”
By throwing punches at his own strongest supporters, Trump took a no-win situation and somehow managed to make it even worse for himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment