Former President Donald Trump advised Republicans that if they want to win elections, they must support three exceptions to abortion bans.
According to Trump, Republicans should support abortion in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. If they don't, he said, they were likely to lose their elections.
Trump said that by taking a hard stance against abortion and not allowing the exceptions, Republicans were going to fall into the "trap" laid by Democrats to win more elections, according to an exclusive interview with far-right Breitbart.
During his presidency, Trump appointed three conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court—Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. All three joined justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to pass the majority vote on overruling Roe v. Wade, which federally protected a woman's right to abortion.
The ruling gives states the power to decide abortion bans, which has led to uproars from Americans across the country as states try to flesh out new rules.
The Supreme Court's decision was campaign material for many candidates' on both sides of the aisle, and Trump said some Republican candidates' views against abortion are the reason they lost their elections. He cited two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Tudor Dixon and Doug Mastriano, as examples of what happens if a candidate takes an impenetrable stance against abortion—they lose.
The Breitbart story called Trump "one of if not the most" pro-life presidents in U.S. history. Now, as he faces a third presidential campaign, Trump is advising Republicans against being too strict with their abortion stances.
"Now, I think a lot of Republicans didn't handle the abortion question properly," Trump said. "I think if you don't have the three exceptions, it's almost impossible in most parts of the country to win. If you don't have three exceptions—I said to a very nice man running for governor of Pennsylvania, 'If you don't have the three exceptions, you can't win.' Same thing with Tudor. She didn't have the three exceptions. If you don't have the three exceptions, you're destined to doom."
Dixon lost her campaign to incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer by more than 10 percentage points, and Mastriano lost by roughly the same amount to Democrat Josh Shapiro. Whitmer and Shapiro pledged to protect abortion if elected.
Trump said he believed in the exceptions, but if a candidate didn't believe in them, then "they have to follow their heart."
"But I don't think they're capable of being elected other than in certain areas," he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
