Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Tuesday morning that “you have to have exceptions” for abortion.
Trump made clear his stance on abortion, telling 77 WABC radio host Sid Rosenberg that “you have to” allow abortions in the cases of rape, incest and endangerment of the life of the mother.
“The Democrats have the radical theory because they’re willing to do abortions in the ninth month, and even after the baby is born. You’ve seen that with the governor of Virginia, the former governor of Virginia, where he said even after the baby is born. And nobody — it’s not acceptable to anybody. No, and I believe in the exceptions, and it’s to be very important,” Trump told Rosenberg. “The three exceptions — same as Ronald Reagan, by the way. The same as Ronald Reagan. And, uh, you have the exceptions, and then we’re gonna come up with a time and maybe we could bring the country together on that issue.”
“You know, other civilized countries in the world, they have, they have standards. And that’s what we have to have,” the former president continued. “But you have to have, in my opinion — and again, you have to follow your heart. Some people want to take a tougher stand on it. They don’t want any exceptions under any circumstances.”
“My attitude is you have to have exceptions if there’s rape, incest, the life of the mother … uh, you have to have exceptions,” Trump said.
Trump explained that he “never had a problem” with the issue of abortion. The 2024 GOP nominee said that abortion “should be a federal issue,” highlighting his belief that the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade rightfully brought the issue back to the state level. A 6-3 majority of justices upheld Mississippi’s 15-week abortion limit when they ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022. (RELATED: Biden Opts To Skip Over The Word ‘Abortion’ During State Of The Union)
“The radicals are the Democrats, ’cause they’re okay with abortion in the ninth month, seventh month, eighth month, ninth month, sixth month — nobody wants that. Nobody wants it. So uh, if you have exceptions, and you do the exceptions, and about 80% of the Republicans, from what I understand, do have exceptions,” Trump said.
Trump said that allowing three exceptions for abortions is important for Republicans to win elections, noting that “even hardliners” are agreeing on a 15-week threshold. The former president previously blasted many GOP candidates for “poorly” handling the abortion issue during the 2022 Midterm Elections on Truth Social in January 2023.
“I think others are being there because you also have to win elections. You have to win. I tell people, some people say, you know, they have very hardline, I say, ‘Here’s the problem. You have to win elections.’ And otherwise, you’ll be right back where you started,” Trump said.
“I think that I’ve never had a problem with the issue, and a lot of people have,” he continued. “We’ve, you know, lost a lot of seats because of that. And because of views that are just, uh, impractical. At the same time, you have to follow your heart.”