Trump has never said directly that he would not sign a federal abortion ban, but that didn’t stop JD Vance from telling a lie that alienated more voters.
Here was the exchange on NBC’s Meet The Press:
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let me just follow up with you a little bit on that point. Because I’ve been talking to Republicans, including Senator Lindsey Graham just last week, who have made it very clear that if Donald Trump is elected, if you are elected, they will continue to press this point. Senator Graham said to me, “I’m going to keep saying that there should be a federal ban.” If such a piece of legislation landed on Donald Trump’s desk, would he veto it?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well, I think it would be very clear he would not support it. I mean, he’s said that explicitly —
KRISTEN WELKER:
But would he veto it?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Yes, I mean, if you’re not supporting it as the President of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it —
KRISTEN WELKER:
So he would veto a federal abortion ban?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think he would. He’s said that explicitly that he would. And again, Lindsey —
KRISTEN WELKER:
I don’t think he’s ever said explicitly that he would. He’s said that to you?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Lindsey Graham, Kristen, I would be surprised – I mean again, I need to see the context on what Lindsey Graham said. Because Lindsey Graham himself has not advocated a federal abortion ban. Lindsey Graham has advocated —
KRISTEN WELKER:
A 15-week federal abortion ban —
SEN. JD VANCE:
– a federal minimum standard. Now, to be clear, that is not Donald Trump’s view. Donald Trump disagrees with Lindsey Graham on this. But no Republican, at least no Republican with any reasonable power, is saying that we should have a complete national abortion ban. I haven’t heard that from any of my colleagues. And to be clear, Donald Trump I think has staked his position and made it very explicit. He wants this to be a state decision, states are going to make this determination themselves.
Video:
Vance redefined an abortion ban as a federal minimum standard, which is an abortion ban without calling it an abortion. “A federal minimum standard” would result in a loss of rights for women, even if they lived in blue states.
Vance’s claim that Trump has made his position explicitly clear was laughable.
Trump has been all over the map on the reproductive rights issue. He has gone from wanting to punish women for having abortions in 2016 to a federal ban to states should decide to I will be great for reproductive freedom to promising not to sign a federal abortion ban.
The truth can be found in Project 2025, where Trump’s agenda document has a plan to ban abortion without passing an abortion ban through Congress.
JD Vance’s lie hurts Trump both with the anti-freedom right and the rest of the country that supports reproductive rights.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
