Donald Trump is set to speak Saturday to a politically influential group of evangelicals who strongly support but want to see the presumptive Republican presidential candidate promise to do more to restrict abortion.
Trump expressed his opposition to signing a national ban on abortion and his reluctance to clarify some of his views on the issue are at odds with many members of the evangelical movement, a key part of Trump’s base that will help him build voters in a November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
When Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices who overturned federally guaranteed abortion rights, he said supporting a national ban would damage Republican politics. About two-thirds of Americans say abortion is generally legal, according to a poll last year by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Federal ban on abortion
Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition at which Trump will speak on Saturday, said people in his movement want to see a federal ban on abortion and want Republican elected officials to “boldly profile” those who “express” their pro-choice views. -live strongly.”
But, Reed said, Trump’s position does not mean he will lose his deep support evangelical Voters who give him “more slack on the rope than they are likely to give other politicians.”
“I don’t think it’s going to hurt him because he has great credibility on this issue,” Reed said. “He did more for pro-life and pro-family causes than any president we’ve ever had in the history of the movement.”
Attendees at Saturday’s event echoed that.
“I would prefer that they would sign a national ban,” said Jerri Dickinson, a 78-year-old retired social worker and member of Faith & Freedom from New Jersey. “I understand that, according to the Constitution, that decision should be left to the states.”
Dickinson said she is not against her state’s abortion laws, which do not place restrictions on the procedure based on gestational age. But he said outsiders prefer a national ban, leaving the issue to the states “is the best alternative.”
John Pudner, a 59-year-old who recently started a Faith & Freedom chapter in his home state of Wisconsin, said members of the movement are loyal to Trump but “mostly we would like him to be more pro-life.”
“I think a lot of people, you know, in the pro-life movement are like, well, gosh, they think they’re a very far-fetched choice,” he said. “But because he appreciates the justices of the Supreme Court, it’s like a positive thing in the pro-life community.”
Evangelical support
According to AP VoteCast, a broad survey of voters, about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters support Trump in 2020, and nearly 4 in 10 Trump voters identify as white evangelical Christians. White evangelical Christians comprised about 20% of the total electorate that year.
Beyond simply offering their own support in the general election, Reed’s group plans to help elect Trump and other Republicans, with the goal of using volunteers and paid workers to knock on millions of doors in embattled states.
While still taking credit for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Trump has also warned abortion could be politically difficult for Republicans. For months he has been delaying questions about his position on the national ban.
Last year, when Trump spoke to Reed’s group, he said there was an “important role for the federal government to protect the lives of the unborn” but did not provide any details.
In April of this year, Trump said he believed the issue should now be left to the states. He later stated in an interview that he would not sign a national ban on abortion if passed by Congress. He still refuses to clarify his position on women’s access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
In 2016, white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to support Trump and were suspicious of his image as a twice-divorced New York City tabloid celebrity who at one point described himself as “very selective.”
But his promise to appoint a justice to the court that would overturn Roe, along with his decision in 2016 to name Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, as his running mate, helped him win the movement’s support.
Several Republicans seen as potential candidates for Trump also spoke at the conference, including Rep. New York Elise Stefanik, former presidential candidate and Trump Housing Secretary Ben Carson and Arizona Senate candidate. Curry Lake. Stefanik and Carson was among the Republicans who received vetting documents from the Trump campaign in recent weeks.
Reed said members of his coalition are watching closely and looking to Trump to vote for someone who shares his views.
“We are looking for someone who will be a champion, pro-family and pro-life and pro-Israel champion. And we are looking for someone who has the ability to bring some new people into the fold and act as ambassadors for our values, ” he said.
Reed wouldn’t name one of his strongest or weakest pitches, calling it an “embarrassment of riches.”
Later on Saturday, Trump plans to hold an afternoon rally in Philadelphia.
