Dem
51
GOP
49
And now something that could very well cost Trump—not in court, but at the ballot box. Somehow, some way, a local reporter in Pittsburgh, Jon Delano, landed an interview with the former president. And Delano asked whether Trump supports restrictions on a person's access to contraception. Trump's reply:
We're looking at that, and I'm going to have a policy on that very shortly, and I think it's something you'll find interesting. I think it's a smart decision. We'll be releasing it very soon.
Asked to clarify if he does support some restrictions, Trump said: "You know, also, things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others." That is obviously a "yes" without using the word "yes."
It is also obviously a really stupid thing to say, politically. Restrictions on abortion access are unpopular enough, but restrictions on contraceptives? That's a whole other level of unpopular. Clearly, someone got to Trump (or, at least, to his "Truth" Social account) in an attempt to clean up the mess, with the following message sent out under his name:
I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives. This is a Democrat fabricated lie, MISINFORMATION/DISINFORMATION, because they have nothing else to run on except FAILURE, POVERTY, AND DEATH. I DO NOT SUPPORT A BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL, AND NEITHER WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!
Yes, it's a Democrat-fabricated lie, based on... actual footage of Trump saying these things. Footage that the Biden campaign has already posted to social media.
Trump's got several problems here. The first is the existence of the footage. The second is that he's now committed to releasing a policy statement, and no matter what that statement says, it's going to alienate some voters. The third is that we all know what he really meant; he's not planning to go after contraception, but he's absolutely planning to support states that go after abortifacient pills.
This is almost certainly the most problematic issue for Trump, and his continued flailing around does not suggest he's ever going to be able to tame it. Maybe, by taking 20 different positions, he can avoid being pinned to any one. Or maybe, by taking 20 different positions, it will become crystal clear that he'll do whatever he thinks will keep his base happy, which then means even more draconian restrictions on reproductive choice. (Z)