Ha ha ha. Donald Trump has betrayed his pro-life supporters even harder than anyone figured. Today he declined to support any national abortion ban at all. Not 6 weeks, not 16 weeks, not anything. Just leave it up to the states. "Whatever they decide must be the law of the land," he said in a video this morning, "in this case the law of the state."
This was posted on Truth Social with no text to suggest what he was talking about:
What a coward! But by God, he says you should vote for him anyway because our country is on the brink and only he can bring it back.
How have you reached 65 years of age (and spending 20-odd years in journalism) while staying this gullible, Kevin? Trump is engaged in damage-control lying. He wants to downplay abortion so as not to scare away the undecideds while not pissing off the fanatics too badly. His lawyers are discussing how to use the Comstock Act to effectively ban abortion nationwide. And if Republicans get control of Congress, they will enact a national ban on abortion, which Trump will dutifully sign into law.
If you replace “dutifully” with”happily” I agree.
" wants to downplay abortion so as not to scare away the undecideds while not pissing off the fanatics too badly. His lawyers are discussing how to use the Comstock Act to effectively ban abortion nationwide. And if Republicans get control of Congress, they will enact a national ban on abortion, which Trump will dutifully sign into law.
Agreed. It's what he didn't say that was most important. He didn't say what would happen if a national ban crossed his desk in the Oval Office.
Nobody, including Kevin, but also Trump's own followers, believe he would not sign a national ban into law if one comes to his desk.
You're right. Trump knows that the rich are not subject to any of the abortion/IVF restrictions that the rest of us have to deal with, so signing or not signing a total ban means nothing to him personally or any of his moneyed peers.
"Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more!" - Eric Idle
Translation: "You know I will destroy your atheist/communist/leftwing radical enemies when I get elected. I'm just saying this to get elected."
Undecideds: Do we really want to relive this constant lying nonsense again?
Eggs are expensive, so: Yeah!
regarding what Trump says as an expresion of opinion on intention to act is frankly idiotic. He is campaigning, and will say whatever he feels will help him win.
On the question of abortion, he obviously never cared about it and doesn't care about it now.
Shrug. Well, he is no Constitutional scholar but in this case I think he is correct.
The Constitution is silent on abortion. That is unsurprising given the time it was written. Therefore, unless it impacts a federal responsibility, the federal government should stay out of it and leave it up to the states.
It directly affects women’s freedom and pursuit of happiness.
Next pedantic bad-faith question!
And privacy.
Can you point to something that is actually specified in the Constitution as a federal government responsibility?
Gotta be a little less obvious when trolling your own blog.
No, really it's 13th dementia...ummm...dimensional chess!!!
Texas can effectively ban it for the whole country.
He is pathological lying, rapist, sack of shit. He will say anything or do anything to get elected. If congress enacts an abortion ban, he will happily sign it, not because he gives a shit about abortion (notwithstanding the numerous abortions he likely funding for himself and his idiot sons), but because it will feel good to fuck over his enemies.
Revenge, adulation, and money is all he cares about.
He's looking very orange and a little thinner than usual in that screenshot. Video manipulation?
Rumor has it he's on Ozempic.
He's clearly on Ozempic
And jacked on cocaine.
Given his (and his party's position) this just a good political move. Most of his personality cult base won't care anyway.
Could be. But the more Trump does this kind of triangulation, the more he no longer seems like the outsider who will drain the swamp, which was always his main appeal. "I alone..." etc etc
Of course the evangelicals are used to being taken for granted; whattrtheygonna do, vote for the abortionist? But that's just the point; if Trump is just the politics as usual they know, then he's no longer the big savior. Could shave off some points and hurt enthusiasm in some key places...
The more he talks about abortion the worse it is for him. Why even say anything?
Did you know that the back end of Truth Social is the open source code of Mastodon?
I'm still laughing at the valuation of the company.
That seems to be a GPL V3 license. I wonder if “Truth Social” is in full compliance with the terms…
One way to find out: Request the source code from them.
This should be so easy for the Biden campaign and DNC to message. I've got to believe that they know how to play this:
"Nice try, Asshole. Everyone remembers What You Did. You Are The Reason for this Mess. Keep trying to Change the Subject - I'm sure that will Go Great for you. Actually, no it won't, because everyone knows You Are a Fraud. Good Luck cleaning up the Mess You Made. See you in November."
Republicans in Congress:
Abortion should be state by state! The Supreme Court should send it back to the states like it used to be! No national laws about abortion!
Then: Yes, states rights, just like the Supreme Court said!
Then: Wait, some states still allow abortions like under Roe v Wade. Oh no, now states are voting to put abortion protections into state law. We now must have a national ban on abortion, and maybe birth control and ending gay rights too!
Donald is the same. If elected he would sign a nationwide abortion ban bill from Congress, and probably lead the charge for it before that.
The wingnuts have been lying about their stance on abortion from the moment the bloody wire hanger hit the floor. Even the exceptions for rape and incest are phantom protections when most hospitals, doctors and police refuse to act out of fears of legal retaliation derived from laws deliberately written to be vague. And now that the majority of abortions are performed via pills easily ordered over the internet, a state by state strategy is pointless.
Not a single good faith argument from the creepy weirdos trying to get their heads so far up women’s vaginas they can suck on the fallopian tubes.
Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas must be gratified that their decision has the former president's Total and Complete Endorsement. Why he didn't just say that in 2022 is baffling.
Honestly, Kevin, this is an embarrassing take. Of course Trump is going to lie about signing a nationwide ban -- he knows it will cost him votes. He's *said* that it's crazy to tell people you'll ban abortion, but he's never said it would be crazy to actually ban abortion.
If Trump is president again, I have zero doubt he'll sign a nationwide ban (didn't he already say he favored a 16 week ban?), use the DoJ+Comstock to further restrict abortion and have the FDA ban mifepristone.