Donald Trump has indicated he may vote to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion ban when it comes up for a referendum later this year, continuing his delicate dance around a major election issue.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, he gave a preview of his voting announcement by saying he didn’t think six weeks was enough.
But he avoided using the presidential veto if a nationwide federal ban came to his desk, even though his running mate had said he would do so.
During his time in office, Trump relished being the most pro-life president in history, taking credit for ending federal protections for abortion by appointing the conservative justices who overturned Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court.
This time, he is trying to please both parties on one of the most divisive issues in the election, saying it is up to the states to make their own laws.
Donald Trump said he had decided how he would vote in Florida’s upcoming referendum on the recently passed six-week abortion ban. “I think six weeks is a mistake,” he said. “And I’ll be saying that soon, but I want more than six weeks.”
That tightrope walk will be tested later this year when Florida, where Trump is a registered voter, holds a referendum on Amendment 4. That amendment would repeal the state’s new ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and replace it with a limit of 24 weeks.
Trump said he has already decided how he will vote.
“Well, I know, but I want more than six weeks,” he said in his ornate living room at Mar-a-Lago. “I want more than six weeks.
“I think six weeks is a mistake. And I will express that soon, but I want more than six weeks.
“And in Florida we have a six-week program. I think you vote on that, and I think it should be longer than six weeks.”
Trump has expressed reservations about such an early ban in the past, but has so far dodged questions about his voting record in the Florida referendum.
His success in the 2016 election was partly due to evangelical voters, and he will need them again to win in 2024.
Steve Deace, a conservative radio host who is trying to drum up support against the amendment in Florida, has called on Trump to issue a statement announcing his support for the state’s ban, warning that he risks being seen as “casual with pro-lifers.”
Florida has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, banning almost all abortions six weeks after conception, when many women don’t even know they’re pregnant.
Trump now finds himself on the opposite side of the debate from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the ban last year. (It went into effect this year after legal challenges.)
Trump spoke to DailyMail.com about a range of topics, from Kamala Harris and the 2024 campaign to his family and life after nearly being shot by an assassin
Trump stoked concerns among his anti-abortion allies last week with this message, in which he used the language of opponents by referring to women and their “reproductive rights”
Trump further stoked concerns among his own allies last week with a post on Truth Social in which he used the language of his political opponents.
“My government will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” he posted.
Insiders downplayed its significance, suggesting Trump was merely using his Truth Social platform to experiment with wording.
In the interview, he said he wanted to use his position to protect IVF after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that frozen embryos are babies.
“We are leaders in IVF fertilization in the sense that we want women to be treated by good doctors and good professionals,” he said.
He also said that by returning the abortion issue from the Supreme Court to the states, voters would have more power to decide the issue for themselves.
“On abortion, people have been wanting to take Roe v. Wade out of the picture and bring it back to the states for 52 years,” he said. “And they succeeded.”
He said he had to make sure there were exceptions.
Democrats are putting abortion referendums on ballots in a number of states in November
Florida has one of the strictest laws in the country, banning abortions after six weeks. Governor Ron DeSantis signed it last year and it goes into effect in May 2024.
“I, like Ronald Reagan, support exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and I think that’s a very good thing,” he said.
But he did not go as far as his own running mate when it came to the issue of a federal ban.
Senator JD Vance said over the weekend that Trump would veto any federal bill that lands on his desk in the Oval Office.
“According to Donald Trump, these are decisions that need to be made by the individual states, their own cultures and their unique political sensitivities. We don’t want a prolonged federal conflict over this issue,” he said.
Trump would not promise to use the veto, but said it simply would not come to that.
“I have no problem answering that question, but I don’t have to, because all states vote,” he said.
‘There are many states coming up soon that will have a vote, including Florida. All states are voting on this.
“But don’t forget that the Democrats have a problem because they are willing to perform abortions… think about this… in the ninth month, and in some cases even after birth, they are willing to kill the child.”
Such late-stage abortions are very rare and killing babies after birth is already illegal under the Murder Act.
