Former President Trump's attempt to walk a political tightrope on abortion could be tested by Thursday's debate, which provides an opportunity for moderators — and President Biden — to try to pin him down on the details of his policy.
Trump has handled the explosive issue carefully as he and other Republicans try to calm their base without losing moderate Republicans and independents. There have been no explicit campaign promises from Trump on abortion, despite lobbying from anti-abortion groups.
The former president has framed abortion as an issue for the states but has avoided talking about more details, including the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.
Yet Trump regularly takes credit for the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade and has criticized blue states that have passed abortion protections. He has also attacked red states like Florida and Arizona for going too far with their restrictions.
Trump has a history of avoiding taking a direct position on controversial issues, often leaving himself room to change or backtrack when politically expedient.
Strategists expect him to stick to the same playbook during the debate.
“I expect Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will really try to pressure him and get his position, but pushing him down is like trying to push Jell-O against a wall,” said Michael Starr Hopkins, a Hillary Clinton alumnus and former president. Obama's presidential campaigns and an opinion writer for The Hill.
Trump and Biden will face off in Atlanta in their first presidential debate this year, which will be hosted by CNN. The event is one of a kind – while it offers voters the first chance of the cycle to see the two men side by side as they debate policy issues and current events, it will be a challenge to break new ground as they both long service as president.
The Biden campaign and Democrats have attacked Trump on abortion issues throughout the election cycle. Trump even drew criticism from his former Republican rivals over his position, although that was not nearly enough to topple him in the Republican race for the White House.
In April, Trump teased that he would make a big announcement on abortion.
But that announcement amounted to a four-minute video posted to his Truth Social platform in which he argued that the issue of abortion should be a matter for the states, while staying away from the issue of federal restrictions around access to abortion.
“The states will decide by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, state law,” he said.
During an interview in Time magazine in April, Trump said he has “pretty strong views” on whether women should have access to mifepristone and that he would make an announcement “probably within the next week.”
But that announcement never came.
Anti-abortion activists have tried to push Trump to be more explicit about his plans and hope he will be clear about his position during the debate.
“Pro-life Americans want President Trump to unequivocally defend the pro-life principles in the party platform, articulate the pro-life accomplishments of his administration, and outline a clear plan to protect and support families, including all unborn children, in a second term,” Lila Rose, the president and founder of Live Action, a social media-driven anti-abortion group, said in a statement to The Hill.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the politically powerful SBA Pro-Life America, said she wants Trump to go on the offensive, rather than allowing Biden to set his position.
The SBA supports Trump, but does not want to officially support him because he does not want to publicly commit to a 15-week suspension.
“One of the most powerful moves Trump can make during the debate is to hold Biden's feet to the fire where he draws the line on abortion,” Dannenfelser said in an email to The Hill. “Recent polls show that three-quarters of voters would limit abortion to no later than 15 weeks of pregnancy, a time when babies feel pain.”
Yet Trump's position on abortion is now essentially the official Republican position on abortion, echoed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.).
Jason Cabel Roe, former executive director of the Republican Party of Michigan, said if Republicans agree that abortion should be a state issue, it will defuse a potential attack claiming Trump wants a national abortion ban.
“I think voters will see the Trump standard as the Republican position on this. So you have the potential next president, the current one [minority] leader, the current chairman, all saying a federal ban is not on the table. There's not much left for Democrats to say,” Roe said.
Democrats and the Biden campaign have made clear they blame Trump for every attempt to restrict reproductive rights since his Supreme Court justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade two years ago.
“Donald Trump is solely responsible for this nightmare,” Biden said in a statement through his campaign, marking the two-year anniversary of the decision to overturn Roe. “For him, these cruel state bans are a 'beautiful thing to look at' — and they're just getting started.”
Philippe Reines, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton who played Trump during her 2016 debate prep, explained that if he were one of the moderators or Biden, he would not allow Trump to retreat into his comfort zone of ” leave it to the states'. without pressing further.
“For years, the Republican motto was, 'Leave it up to the states.' I wouldn't let him use that code, because that code means something very different now,” Reines said.
“Now it's left up to the states, and some states are doing some pretty draconian things,” Reines said.
While his position on abortion appears solid, Roe said he thinks Trump is vulnerable on other reproductive rights issues, such as contraception and in vitro fertilization.
“I think there needs to be a clear message on this issue, not just from Trump, but from all the Republican candidates. I haven't really seen an attempt to unify the message on this and get people on the same script,” Roe said .
