Republican 2024 White House hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a new interview that aired Saturday, warned that the left will attempt to “weaponize” former President Donald Trump’s comments against six-week abortion bans.
During an appearance on The Glenn Beck Podcast, DeSantis warned that a referendum for a constitutional amendment “to basically have abortion on demand” might be on the ballot in Florida.
“The left is pursuing it, and if that passes, that means the legislature can never do anything to protect life,” DeSantis said. “Do you think they’re going to run ads to Republicans and Independents, showing Trump, Trump voters, saying ‘Trump didn’t like this, vote the other way, for us’? Of course they are. They’re gonna weaponize what he said, to try to defeat the cause of life.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to members of the media and site workers at the Permian Deep Rock Oil Company site during a campaign event on September 20, 2023 in Midland, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
DeSantis last week warned pro-life Americans that Trump will “sell you out” on abortion after the former president, in his first network interview since leaving office on NBC “Meet the Press,” criticized the Florida governor’s support of a six-week abortion ban as a “terrible mistake.” Trump vowed to reach a deal between Republicans and Democrats on the number of weeks into pregnancy where abortion would be illegal, ripping Democrats for allegedly supporting late-term abortions.
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2024 Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks to guests during a “Commit To Caucus” rally at the Jackson County Fairgrounds on September 20, 2023 in Maquoketa, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
While state law in Florida currently prohibits most abortions after 15 weeks, DeSantis, in April, signed the Heartbeat Protection Act, which aims to restrict abortions after six weeks gestation, with exceptions including women who are victims of rape, incest and human trafficking, or whose baby has a devastating diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality. A court ruling this fall could determine whether the law will take effect.
2024 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump greets guests following a “Commit To Caucus” rally at the Jackson County Fairgrounds on Sept. 20, 2023, in Maquoketa, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Trump later attempted to clarify his comment, credited himself for the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe V. Wade, which he says gave pro-life Americans bargaining power.
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“I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible, end Roe v. Wade,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “For 52 years, people talked, spent vast amounts of money, but couldn’t get the job done. I got the job done! Thanks to the three great Supreme Court Justices I appointed, this issue has been returned to the States, where all Legal Scholars, on both sides, felt it should be.”