Trump, Republicans thrown back on defense on abortion

Donald Trump and Republicans know they have a problem with women on abortion. Three weeks before the election, it’s showing up everywhere.

Across a series of debates over a roughly 24-hour span, Republicans twisted and tangled themselves on the issue: In Texas, Sen. Ted Cruz repeatedly declined to say whether he supports allowing abortions in cases of incest or rape. In Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, the Republican Senate nominee, called abortion a “state’s rights issue,” while also saying he supports exceptions to restrictions on the procedure and would not back a national ban. And in New Hampshire, where the GOP is locked in a close contest to keep the governor’s seat, Republican former Sen. Kelly Ayotte was again forced to defend her past votes to restrict abortion access.

And then there was Trump, in a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday, defending his role in overturning Roe v. Wade in one breath and declaring himself the “father of IVF” in another.

In an election in which polls show Republicans with an advantage on most major issues, the GOP’s contortions on reproductive rights this week served as the latest reminder that abortion is a political albatross that still could sink Trump and hamper the GOP down-ballot in November.

High-level Republicans, including National Republican Senatorial Chair Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), have advised GOP candidates to express support for policies that help pregnant moms, to oppose a federal abortion ban and to support their state’s post-Dobbs policy, according to three people familiar with the conversations and granted anonymity to describe them. They’ve also encouraged candidates to express support for exceptions to abortion restrictions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. And, depending on the race, Republicans have suggested candidates should point to Democrats’ support for what they argue is permitting “elective” abortions through the ninth month of pregnancy.

But Democrats are pressing the issue at every turn, including by clobbering Republicans on the airwaves. On Wednesday, as Fox aired its woman-focused town hall with Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign counter-programmed by running an abortion-rights ad on the network.

“It is not an issue that we can be on offense on. It is an issue we are constantly playing defense on,” said Jason Roe, a Michigan-based GOP strategist.

Democrats are “using this, and I would say over-using this, because they don’t have anything else,” he said. “We have advantages on all the other issues in this election.”

Republicans have openly acknowledged the problem they’re facing with abortion as they work to narrow a yawning gender gap that has come to define this race while not alienating the most conservative corners of their base. While abortion typically trails the economy in importance to voters, polling shows it remains a top issue among female voters — and particularly among younger women.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said in the vice presidential debate earlier this month that people “frankly just don’t trust” Republicans on abortion and said the party has to “do so much better of a job earning” it back.

Along with encouraging GOP candidates to support policies that help pregnant women, NRSC officials have also strongly encouraged Republicans to invest in TV ads pushing back on efforts to paint their opponents as extreme on abortion. In some cases, GOP candidates are ramping up such efforts by also claiming Democrats are extreme on a host of social issues, including transgender policy.

And in some House races in swing districts, Republicans are positioning themselves as “pro-choice” in a bid to blunt their Democratic opponents’ messaging on the issue.

“Republicans are trying to triangulate it because most of them personally are pro-life, and then also they were in primaries where they committed to upholding certain pro-life positions,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a Republican strategist who worked for Vivek Ramaswamy’s presidential campaign. “And so I think that Republicans are mistaken if we don’t think that could be a serious factor in this election.”

Republicans have broadly seized on supporting IVF as a way of appealing to female voters. Cruz in his debate declared he “strongly” supports access to the procedure. Trump said he was “excited” to talk about it in his Fox News town hall.

But that was after he stumbled his way through a response to an audience question about why the government is “involved in women’s basic rights.”

“I think it’s great,” Trump began, again taking credit for his role in overturning federal abortion protections and claiming that returning the power to decide access to the procedure to states is “where everyone has wanted it for years.”

Yet, he also said some of the restrictions states have pursued are “too tough” and are “going to be redone.” He reiterated that he supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother.

And his remark that he was the “father of IVF” prompted a fresh wave of recriminations from Democrats. Harris called the comment “bizarre” when speaking to reporters on Wednesday. “If what he meant is taking responsibility well, then, yeah, he should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump-abortion-ban state,” Harris said.

“More like ‘father of Georgia’s abortion ban,’” Gwen Walz, the wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, said at a Wednesday campaign stop in the state.

Trump’s floundering marked the former president’s latest attempt to course correct on an issue he helped create. Over the summer, for instance, Trump indicated support for a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would expand abortion rights in the state only for his campaign to attempt to walk it back.

And Trump, under constant criticism from Democrats attempting to yoke him to a national abortion ban, initially admonished Vance for getting ahead of him in saying he would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress sent him such a bill. But later — as his running mate was being confronted on the issue on a debate stage — Trump declared that “everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban … and would, in fact, veto it.”

For his part, Vance acknowledged in a recent Fox News Sunday interview that polling generally still shows Republicans have shortcomings with female voters, but that “there is some evidence we made progress in the last few weeks and, of course, we are still a few weeks from the actual game day here.”

And Republican strategists argue that pocketbook issues, along with the unusually high salience of immigration among voters this year, could at least counterbalance Democrats’ advantage on abortion.

But ballot measures to protect abortion access could drive turnout toward Democrats in several states — including Nevada and Arizona, two of seven battleground states likely to decide what remains a close contest.

Abortion is “certainly something that Republicans up and down the ballot do not want to talk about. And when Republicans are talking about abortion they are playing on the Democrats’ field,” said Barrett Marson, an Arizona-based GOP strategist.

“If the Democrats can motivate those young and first-time voters who are determined to codify in our constitution abortion rights,” he said, “then it could be powerful just as a driver of turnout.”