Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:52 pm
During a town hall that will air on MSNBC, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came out in support of criminal punishment for women who have abortions.
Video:
Transcript via MSNBC:
MATTHEWS: Should the woman be punished? For having an abortion?
TRUMP: Well look.
MATTHEWS: This is not something you can dodge.
TRUMP: It’s not—
MATTHEWS: If you say abortion is a crime or abortion is murder, you have to deal with it under the law. Should abortion be punished?
TRUMP: Well people in certain parts of the Republican party and conservatives Republicans would say, yes they should be punished.
MATTHEWS: How about you?
TRUMP: I would say that it’s a very serious problem and it’s a problem that we have to decide on. It’s very hard—
MATTHEWS: But you’re for banning it.
TRUMP: Are you going to say, well wait, are you going to say put them in jail? Is that the punishment you’re talking about?
MATTHEWS: No I’m asking you because you say you want to ban it. What does that mean?
TRUMP: I am against. I am pro-life. Yes. I am pro-life.
MATTHEWS: How do you ban abortion? How do you actually do it?
TRUMP: You know you’ll go back to a position like where they had where people perhaps will go to illegal places.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
TRUMP: But you have to ban it. I’m against—
MATTHEWS: Yeah you ban it but they go to someone who flunked out of medical school and-
TRUMP: Are you Catholic?
MATTHEWS: Yes, I think I-I-I
TRUMP: And how do you feel about the Catholic church’s position?
MATTHEWS: I accept the teaching authority of my church on moral issues.
TRUMP: I know, but do you know what their position on abortion is?
MATTHEWS: Yes, I do.
TRUMP: And do you concur with that position?
MATTHEWS: I concur with their moral position but legally I want to get to the question—
TRUMP: No but let me ask you. What do you say about—
MATTHEWS: It’s not funny.
TRUMP: It’s really not funny. What do you say about your church? They’re very very strict.
MATTHEWS: The churches make their moral judgments, but you’re running for President of the United States to become Chief Executive of the United States. Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?
TRUMP: The answer is there has to be some form of punishment.
MATTHEWS: For the woman?
TRUMP: Yes.
MATTHEWS: 10 cents, 10 years, what?
TRUMP: I don’t know. That I don’t know.
MATTHEWS: Well why not, you take positions on everything else.
It is almost as if Donald Trump is taking positions that are intentionally designed to lose him the election. Trump isn’t facing a gender gap with women. The Republican Party is looking at a gender Grand Canyon if they nominate Trump. The latest CNN/ORC Poll found that Trump has a 73% unfavorable rating with women, and with positions like criminalizing abortion, it is easy to see why.
The truth is that both men and women should be outraged by Trump’s position. The frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination is supporting a policy that could put wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers, and daughters in jail. Would Trump’s punishment be just for the woman having the abortion, or the would the punishment extend to the man who got the woman pregnant? It takes two to tango, so what if the man supports the abortion. Shouldn’t he also go to jail? What kind of punishment does the man deserve?
Donald Trump is dangerous because he makes up policies on the fly. Trump puts zero thought into the words that come out of his mouth. The man who may be the standard bearer for the Republican Party this fall wants to throw potentially half of the population in jail.
Every time Donald Trump opens his mouth, the Democratic nominee gains more votes in November.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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