Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced that he does not support any federal limits on abortion, stating that the issue should be left to the states. The Biden campaign has responded by portraying Trump’s desire to moderate on the issue as dishonest, borrowing old comments and taking the former president out of context. This is a Trump that Joe Biden fears challenging in November. Trump’s statement was set to sadden pro-life organizations throughout the nation, as discussions over the former president’s potential support of a 15-week national limit offered pro-lifers some semblance of progress. Now, leaving the issue to the states seems like a betrayal to the organizations that celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, especially those that have been eyeing an outright national ban.
Biden’s response to Trump’s statement was to reiterate the need for national protections, arguing that “back to the states” discourse “cedes the national debate to the Democrats.” In a press call following the statement, Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez joined Kaitlyn Kash, a Texan mother who had her “health imperiled by an extreme MAGA abortion ban.” The event focused on painting Trump as a national-ban-endorsing radical, despite his statements in the last six months showing the opposite.
The Biden campaign’s fixation on these old comments reveals a belief that it is essential to paint Trump as a staunch pro-lifer for the incumbent to succeed in November. The problem it faces is that Trump’s history as an ardent social conservative is a short one, and the negative response from pro-life organizations to Trump’s latest announcement only confirms that the statements should be taken seriously. If Trump continues to position himself in the middle of this issue, he will find himself in a great position heading into the 2024 presidential election. Democrats have been banking on abortion to attract independents and mobilize their base, but if Democrats don’t attempt to move to the middle, allowing Trump to be seen as the one who is willing to moderate, they will lose.