As he gets ready to take on Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis increased his criticism of the former president on Tuesday by saying that he implied Florida’s new six-week abortion ban was “too harsh.”
DeSantis was replying to a query regarding Trump’s remarks in an article about the six-week ban that the Florida governor recently signed into law published on Monday by The Messenger.
According to Trump, “the pro-life movement as a whole feels that that was too harsh.”
DeSantis asserted that abortion opponents generally supported the bill and pointed out that the former president was silent about any restrictions he woulhelprt.
DeSantis said during a news conference in Florida after he signed a bill to fight human trafficking: “Almost 99% of pro-lifers support protecting an unborn child when there is a detectable heartbeat.”
“As a resident of Florida, you know, he didn’t respond to the question of whether he would have approved the heartbeat statute that Florida passed, which contained all the exclusions that people talk about.DeSantis continued, “”
As the governor of Florida gets closer to deciding whether to run for president in 2024, the antagonism between Trump and DeSantis is getting hotter.
Allies of DeSantis predict that he will announce his candidacy as early as this week, though a date closer to the month’s end is possible.
Before the first presidential election following the Supreme Court’s overthrow of Roe v. Wade, abortion has become an early issue in the still-evolving Republican primary field. The squabbling highlights the GOP’s persistent internal debate about tight abortion restrictions, which would be popular in a Republican primary but could pose difficulties for the party’s ultimate nominee in the general election.
Abortions after six weeks of pregnancy are prohibited by the statute DeSantis signed into law last month. It won’t go into effect until the state’s 15-week restriction is maintained in a legal battle before the conservative-controlled state Supreme Court.
When questioned about DeSantis’ comments, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung responded, “Ron DeSantis is flailing in the polls and is closer to the bottom of the pack than he is to President Trump, who is dominating every poll.”
Cheung brought up a recent claim made by an anti-abortion group that Trump’s presidency will be “the most consequential in American history for the pro-life cause.”
As a result of his three Supreme Court appointments of conservative judges, Trump has referred to himself as “the most pro-life president in American history,” helping to end legalized abortion throughout the country.
But even as Republicans around the nation applaud the Supreme Court ruling, Trump has frequently avoided discussing the abortion debate in the early months of his 2024 campaign.
When asked in Iowa in March, he repeatedly declined to respond if he would support a federal bill prohibiting abortion in every state, which anti-abortion advocates had been pressing GOP presidential candidates to do.
When asked by The Associated Press if he supported a federal abortion ban, he responded, “We’re looking at many different options.
During a primetime CNN town hall in New Hampshire, Trump avoided providing details about a countrywide ban last week.
He repeatedly said he would “do what’s right” without elaborating.
DeSantis has increased his criticism of Trump, who has been assaulting him directly and through organizations behind his candidacy, as he draws near to making a declaration. DeSantis highlighted the GOP’s recent streak of election losses in Iowa last week as dangerous weather prevented Trump from visiting the state, clearly aiming at the outgoing president.
“We must reject the losing-oriented culture that has recently affected our party. At a gathering in Sioux Center, DeSantis declared, “The time for justifications is over. “I think the Democrats will beat us again if we get sidetracked if we focus the election on the past or other side issues.”
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