In one of the most on-the-record moments of the first (and perhaps only) pre-election presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump was put on the spot about a claim made by his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH).
Vance has said that Trump would not, if he were elected, sign a national abortion ban — that the nominee is “against” a ban and that he would veto such a bill. In refusing to agree with Vance, saying he and Vance had not discussed the matter, Trump repeatedly asserted during the debate that the question was irrelevant — since he would never have a chance to sign such a bill.
Trump said the difficulty in getting such a bill passed in a Congress where neither party enjoys a strong majority makes the scenario impossible. What Trump very notably did not commit to was a refusal to veto a national abortion bill in the unlikely case he gets the chance. See the moment below.
Vance had previously denied Trump would sign the hypothetical legislation banning abortion nationwide, and Trump, given the opportunity to express solidarity with his VP pick, instead left Vance hanging and denied Vance’s denial.
It’s a very challenging subject for Trump, who relies heavily on the electoral support he gained from Evangelicals and others on the right for making Supreme Court appointments that led directly to the takedown of Roe v. Wade, the 50-year-old SCOTUS precedent protecting women’s reproductive rights.
That support has already been shaken recently by Trump’s backing of IVF, the fertilization treatment that Evangelicals see as akin to abortion because the process results in discarded embryos.
By refusing to commit to vetoing a national abortion ban, Trump sends a signal to Evangelicals that the door remains open, much in the way that SCOTUS nominees have for decades routinely denied having agendas — especially about Roe — during their confirmation hearings, denials that can seem disingenuous after they take the bench.
[NOTE: While the protections previously provided by Roe v. Wade are broadly popular around the country — as numerous individual state votes has shown — IVF is even more popular. Supporting bans on either, as Trump knows, is a political minefield.]