Anti-abortion group pressures Trump to take tough stance

Blaming former President Donald Trump’s “abortion issue” as the reason Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections is being pushed back by at least one conservative anti-abortion group.

Trump deflected blame for his party’s performance in November, saying, “It wasn’t my fault Republicans failed to live up to expectations.” Fingers have been pointed at the former president for endorsing losing candidates in major high-profile races, including Herschel Walker, Kari Lake and Tudor Dixon.

“It’s the ‘abortion issue,’ mishandled by many Republicans, especially those who have staunchly insisted on no exceptions, even in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother, which has lost a large number of voters,” Trump wrote on Sunday. on Social Truth. “Furthermore, the people who pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the United States Supreme Court, and just disappeared, never to be seen again.”

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America rebutted Trump, pointing out the group’s “expectations” of Republican presidential candidates.

“The decade-tested approach to winning on abortion in federal races is this: clearly state the aspirational consensus pro-life position and contrast it with the extreme view of Democratic opponents,” he said Monday. the organization in a press release. “We look forward to hearing this position fully articulated by Mr. Trump and all presidential candidates.

“There was ALSO a profound midterm lesson for future federal candidates: those who adopt the ostrich strategy on abortion lose,” he added.

The ostrich metaphor refers to those who pretend that certain things do not exist, burying their head in the sand like an ostrich would.

A video posted on Twitter by the Patriot Takes account shows Trump ignoring a question about backing a bill introduced last year by Sen. Lindsey Graham that would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks. This proposal garnered no real support from Graham’s fellow Senate Republicans.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, also chastised Trump’s message, writing on Twitter that abortion was not what was costing the GOP political power.

“The GOP lost control of the Senate THREE cycles in a row and it wasn’t the fault of the pro-life movement,” Phelan said. tweeted Monday. “It’s your hand-picked candidates who underperformed and lost ‘roughly.’ May 2023-24 will bring the GOP a new leadership PROUD to protect the unborn.”

New York Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres tweeted that Trump’s words “show that a broken clock is right twice a day”.

“Trump can’t control his own role in reversing Roe against Wade and reducing the so-called ‘red wave’ to a trickle,” Torres wrote, in what is a likely reference to Trump’s nomination. of conservative Supreme Court justices who finally helped reverse a 50-year-old precedent.

Ted Lieu, Democratic Representative of California tweeted that Trump never believed that life began at conception and that his opinions only conformed upon reaching power.

“Now that you are no longer useful to him, Trump blames you for losing and wants you to shut up,” Lieu wrote. “If you’re still supporting him, you’re disrespecting yourself.”

Newsweek contacted the Republican National Committee and other anti-abortion groups, including National Right to Life and Americans United for Life, for comment.