Former Republican Strategist: Trump’s ‘Taken the Worst Possible Political Position’ On Abortion
Stance will "demotivate" Republican voters in November, Dowd says
In trying to appeal to voters on both sides of the issue, Donald Trump’s just “taken the worst possible political position” on abortion, according a veteran former Republican political strategist who worked on President George W Bush’s reelection campaign.
During his term in the White House, Trump appointed the three right-wing justices who two years ago upended nearly 50 years of precedent and overturned Roe v Wade, ending the national guarantee of abortion rights.
That legal decision has proven politically unpopular, as voters have since approved measures to uphold abortion rights at the state level across the country.
They also have been increasingly turning out in favor of Democratic candidates who support abortion rights.
Trump, now seeking a return to the White House in November, seemed to try win back disaffected voters by announcing his new position on abortion.
In a statement Monday, he said that abortion should be decided only at the state level while also backing exceptions to allow abortion in the cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.
It's not a stance that will bode well for Trump in the election, according to Matthew Dowd, a one-time senior adviser to the Republican National Committee and chief strategist for George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004.
“I mean, I actually think he’s taken the worst possible political position, which is amazing, when they think — as Garrett was reporting, they think at Mar-a-Lago, he took a good political position,” Dowd said, in an on-camera appearance on MSNBC. “Here’s what’s going to happen. One, I agree with Victoria, it’s still going to motivate Democrats in the course of this. So Democrats are still going to be motivated.
“Two, it’s going to demotivate part of Donald Trump’s base as already evidenced by some of the things they’ve said where they wanted a federal ban and they wanted to get rid of abortion, not only in places like Texas border but California and New York,” Dowd added. “So it’s going to demotivate part of his base. And three, he still is going to have to answer the question every time a state does something that restricts abortion on this, because he’s opened the door to say states can do whatever they want.
“That means he’s going to have to answer: ‘Well, do you agree with what Florida did? Do you agree with what Texas did? Do you agree with Alabama? Do you agree with Mississippi?’ And so I think — and then I don’t often agree with Lindsey Graham, but from a political perspective — he would have been better off I think, going for a 15-week or a 16-week federal policy on this because, it can still motivate his base, and there are some swing voters that agree with that line. But I think he’s taken the worst possible political position.”
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