Michigan Governor Whitmer calls Trump's abortion stance 'baloney' and insists ... trends now
Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer put Donald Trump on blast over abortion rights ahead of his visit to her state, calling his stance 'baloney' as he attempts to navigate the contentious issue which has become a political landmine in the 2024 election.
The Republican presidential candidate is headed to the battleground state for a rally on Wednesday.
It is his first campaign rally since the hush money trial began nearly three weeks ago in New York and comes after he told TIME Magazine in an interview he would let red states monitor pregnancies, saying 'I think they might do that.'
In that same interview, Trump declined to commit to vetoing federal restrictions on abortion if they came to his desk and said it was 'irrelevant' whether he was comfortable with states prosecuting women who have abortions 'because the states are going to make those decisions.'
'You cannot trust what Donald Trump says when it come to abortion rights. He and all three of his appointees to the United States Supreme Court lied to Congress and lied to the American people,' Whitmer told reporters on Wednesday.
'They went and reversed Roe v Wade and that is exactly why we've got chaos across the country with different rights for different people,' she said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer at a roundtable on reproductive rights in Flint, MI ahead of Donald Trump's visit to the state on Wednesday
Whitmer was joined at the event put on by the Biden campaign by a doctor, advocates, a veteran and students
In a cover interview with TIME, Trump said he would let red states 'monitor' pregnancies and declined to commit to vetoing a bill restricting abortion should it make it to his desk if he is reelected
Abortion has proven to be a motivating issue for voters to cast ballots for Democrats in recent elections including in Michigan.
Exit polling in the battleground state for the 2022 midterm showed it as the top issue in the election. Michigan voters that year reelected Whitmer and enshrine the right to an abortion in their state constitution.
Whitmer was in Flint, MI ahead of Trump's visit for a roundtable on reproductive rights set up by the Biden reelection campaign on which Whitmer is a co-chair.
At the same time, Florida's six week abortion ban went into effect on Wednesday. Democrats around the country have been speaking out on abortion including Vice President Kamala Harris who is traveling to Jacksonville, FL.
In his TIME interview, Trump said there would 'never be that chance' on whether he would veto a federal abortion restrictions bill make
