Trump's Disturbing Time Interview Shows He Has No Idea Abortion Is a Ticking Time Bomb for the GOP

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/heather-digby-parton/110267/trump-s-disturbing-time-interview-shows-he-has-no-idea-abortion-is-a-ticking-time-bomb-for-th

Trump’s Disturbing Time Interview Shows He Has No Idea Abortion Is a Ticking Time Bomb for the GOP
by Heather Digby Parton | May 2, 2024 - 6:40am

— from Salon


Donald Trump has said many things that should have chased him out of politics a long time ago. But in an interview with Eric Cortellessa of Time Magazine this week, he finally said something so outrageous that it could make a difference in this campaign. When asked if states should monitor women's pregnancies so they can know if they've gotten an abortion after the ban, Trump replied:

"I think they might do that. Again, you'll have to speak to the individual states."

In other words, he's fine with whatever medieval torture a state might want to inflict.

That wasn't all. He went on to say that states prosecuting women who get abortions is none of his concern. He promised to reveal his position on a possible national ban on the widely used drug Mifepristone in two weeks. (The two weeks have passed and when Time approached him to see if he had an update he extended it.) He may be waiting to see if the Supreme Court lets him off the hook with a ruling in the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case they heard last month. And he was unwilling to say whether he will vote to overturn the 6-week abortion ban that goes into effect in his home state of Florida on Wednesday. Again, he said that it would be up to the state.

Trump thinks he's brilliantly found a way to evade responsibility for the backlash by insisting that turning it back to the states solves the problem. He really seems to believe that by putting the words "states' rights" on repeat, and constantly pushing the lie that ending Roe v. Wade, for which he proudly takes credit, was what every expert and the majority of Americans wanted, he can convince people the controversy is over. Here he is telling the press that people are very happy with what he's done:

Link to tweet

snip//

Trump and the MAGA establishment have laid out a vivid plan for a revolutionary imperial presidency. He's said before that the Constitution can be suspended and repeatedly insisted when he was president that he had "an Article II" that gave him unlimited power. Now he's got the Supreme Court contemplating giving him immunity from prosecution for any of his crimes. As Biden would say, it's not a joke. He means it.

[MadAsNell]

1. He knows...

He just doesn't care.

[KS Toronado]

2. Welcome to DU !

For him to "know" he'd need some self-awareness.

[Botany]

3. Welcome

In every state including red states like Ohio, Kansas, and Kentucky when women’s
health care aka the right to have an abortion has been on the ballot protecting
women’s rights has won.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Welcome to DU

[PatSeg]

4. He really does seem to be clueless

What political instincts he has are being overshadowed by all his legal woes and probably his diminishing cognitive function.

Or perhaps his massive ego won't allow him to believe that he could lose voters. He may still believe he could "shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters".

[wnylib]

8. Trump has bragged about ending Roe.

His massive ego won't let him admit that it was a mistake. So he waffles around with his usual gaslighting BS, but people's feelings on this are too strong for them to be gaslighted.

[PatSeg]

9. That's a good point

He rather go down in flames than admit that he was or is wrong about anything. Once again, a child-like mentality. This time he can't say he was joking or being sarcastic or was misunderstood. He owns it.

[paleotn]

5. He doesn't understand or care, but his handlers

….are trying to thread a needle that can’t be threaded. There’s no middle ground on this. The majority of voters will punish him for throwing it to the states. He coul lose FL with their recent ban. But he can’t lose his base who view this issue with 15th century, religious fervor.

In short, he’s fucked either way.

[Ping Tung]

7. Fighting abortion rights is a certain lose/lose for the pubs.

Not just for Trump but for the other candidates down the ballot. They have to satisfy the Evangelical hard-line pro-preggers whose votes are essential and try to save the non-nutter Repugs and Indies by backtracking to a more "moderate"position like Trump is trying (and failing) to do now.

Even some of the hard-line MAGA pro-lifers are accusing him of going soft on abortion and "killing babies".

[Silent3]

10. Oh, I think Trump knows. It's one of the few things his very addled brain still can understand, but...

...like all Republicans, there's a tightrope to walk between keeping the rabid base riled up and winning enough votes of independents in a general election.

Trump is playing the game many Republicans are now playing, saying a bunch of contradictory things on abortion, hoping to get the optimum mix of voters who believe only the parts of what they've said that they need them to believe.

[FHRRK]

11. This specific issue plays into all of trumps major weaknesses

1. Narcissit, he couid give two shits, it doesn’t impact him.
2. Ego, he thinks he can just sell the bullshit like his scam condos