Donald Trump’s record of comments on abortion took another strange twist Wednesday when he was again confronted with his prior statement that women who have abortions should be “punished.”
“What about what you told Chris Matthews a few weeks ago, which is that women who get abortions should be punished?” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was asked Wednesday on a phone call with MSNBC. “Do you still believe that to be true?”
“No, he was asking me a theoretical, or just a question in theory,” Trump replied. “And I talked about it only from that standpoint. Of course not. And that was done, he said, you know, I guess it was theoretically, but he was asking me a rhetorical question, and I, and I gave an answer.” (RELATED: The Amazing History Of Trump’s Ever-Changing Abortion Stance)
“And by the way, people thought from an academic standpoint, and, asked rhetorically, people said that answer was an unbelievable academic answer,” he continued. “But of course not, and I said that afterwards.”
WATCH:
Here’s the previous exchange with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, which the Wednesday question was based on:
Matthews: “Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no as a principle?”
Trump: “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.”
Matthews: “For the woman?”
Trump: “Yeah, there has to be some form.”
Matthews: “Ten cents or 10 years? What?”
Trump: “That I don’t know. That I don’t know.”
Following that exchange, Trump released a “clarifying” statement saying only doctors who perform the abortion should be punished, and the woman involved is a victim and should not be punished if abortion is outlawed.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.