Former President Donald Trump is facing increased scrutiny for calling Florida’s six-week abortion ban ‘a terrible thing,’ with more big names joining the chorus of those condemning him.
‘It’s never a ‘terrible thing’ to protect innocent life. I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year,’ Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds wrote in a Wednesday post on X.
She was joined shortly after by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who wrote in his own X post, ‘There’s nothing ‘terrible’ about standing up for life. In addition to passing the heartbeat bill, Georgia has proudly protected and valued life through implementing adoption and foster care reforms, and combatting (sic) human trafficking – and will continue to do so as long as I’m governor.’
Trump made the comments during an interview on MSNBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ over the weekend, when he was pressed on his abortion stance. In his response, he said he would work with Democrats to pass abortion legislation before taking aim at Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ support for the six-week ban, officially called the Heartbeat Protection Act.
‘I mean, ‘DeSanctus’ [DeSantis] is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban,’ Trump said. ‘I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.’
The comments sparked widespread backlash from conservatives, who took to social media to blast the former president, and question his comments considering his previously expressed pro-life stances.
DeSantis also weighed in, warning pro-life voters Trump will ‘sell you out’ following the comments.
‘Anytime he did a deal with Democrats, whether it was on budget, whether it was on the criminal justice ‘First Step Act,’ they ended up taking him to the cleaners, and so, I think if he’s going into this thing, he’s gonna make the Democrats happy with respect to the right to life. I think all pro-lifers should know that he’s preparing to sell you out,’ DeSantis said.
Fox News’ Houston Keene and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.