For Donald Trump, victory is already assured. In the primary, at least.
As a result, he’s changing positions on the Democrats’ strongest issue and the Republicans’ weakest.
It was Trump, of course, who appointed the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump had also said during his successful 2016 run that there had to be “some sort of punishment” for women who went through with abortions.
But Trump the 2024 candidate is now singing a different tune. If elected again, he said this in a recent interview on NBC: “I would sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years.”
The six-week abortion ban his primary rival Ron DeSantis signed in Florida? To Trump, it is “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump added.
Polling has consistently shown that most Americans favor legal abortion to some degree. Polling has also shown that most Republicans and Independents favor legal abortion at some level. The calculus for Trump, of course, is that his massive lead in the polls means he can afford to ignore the more conservative primary electorate and begin to court the general electorate that will only cast their votes in 2024. His rhetoric has drawn the ire of pro-lifers, but when presented with a choice between him and Biden, it is hard to believe they will not support him.
