The presumptive GOP presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, returned to the Capitol this week for the first time since the riots occurred there on January 6, 2021. Trump, now a convicted felon, met with Republicans in the Senate and the House including U.S. Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee.
After the Trump meeting, Burchett was interviewed on CNN and — amid praising the former president — admitted that he disagrees with Trump’s position on abortion. Wanting to skirt a campaign issue that polls indicate is a loser for Republicans, Trump has been so far punted on a federal abortion ban, saying that reproductive rights issues should be left to the states, an interpretation of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision striking down federal abortion protections of Roe v. Wade.
Burchett, on the other hand, thinks the federal government has an overarching role to play in criminalizing abortion. “I believe abortion is wrong,” Burchett said.
Trump reportedly addressed abortion in his meeting with the Hill Republicans, reiterating that the politically explosive matter should — for now — be left to the states. Burchett admitted that he was “disappointed” in Trump’s stance, and recognized with a shrug, “Not everyone is going to agree with Tim Burchett.”
After meeting with Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett says he disagrees with Trump’s position on abortion to leave it to the states, says he urged Trump in meeting to talk to voters about fixing problems, also responds to Trump on J6 rioters and calls some of them “patriots” pic.twitter.com/hT3PVcakmW
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 13, 2024
When pressed for more details about the closed door meeting, Burchett said Trump was “very eloquent” and that when Burchett asked to be recognized, according to Burchett, Trump “called me and said, ‘Tim!’” Burchett smiled and said excitedly, “He called me by my first name.”
Burchett said he told Trump, “You do an excellent job in telling us what’s wrong with this country.”