Former President Trump argued on Thursday that abortion is no longer a “big factor” in elections, saying he believes it will end up being “a very small issue” in this year’s vote.
Speaking at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump also promised to announce how he plans to vote on a constitutional amendment in Florida that would protect the right to abortion, and overturn a 6-week ban on the procedure.
He reiterated his support for exceptions for abortion bans in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother, adding abortion “seems to be much less of an issue, especially for those [states] where they have the exceptions.”
He again took credit for returning the issue to the states and noted that subsequent state-level votes on abortion access have turned out “much more, if you could say, liberal than you would think.” He cited ballot measures in Ohio and Kansas where voters chose in favor of abortion access by enshrining the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution, or rejecting constitutional amendments denying that right.
Trump’s current home state of Florida will include a right to abortion ballot measure in November.
When asked how he plans to vote on the measure, Trump said, “I’m going to announce that. I’m gonna actually have a press conference on that at some point in the near future, so I don’t want to tell you now.”
The former president added that not including exceptions to abortion bans makes it “a much tougher issue” but argued that a majority of Republicans support exceptions and more are likely changing their minds on that front.
“I think that abortion has become much less of an issue. It’s a very I think it’s actually going to be very small issue,” Trump said.
He added, “I think the abortion issue has been taken down many notches. I don’t think it’s — I don’t think it’s a big factor anymore, really.”
Trump was also asked if he would direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke access to mifepristone, a drug used for medical abortions commonly in combination misoprostol.
“You could do things that would supplement. Absolutely. And those things are pretty open and humane. But you have to be able to have a vote and all I want to do is give everybody a vote,” he said. “There are many things on a humane basis that you can do outside of that.”
Trump has previously suggested he would not block access to abortion pills, and in April told Time magazine he would be clarifying his stance on the issue.
Democrats have successfully campaigned on abortion access since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and it continues to be a major focus of Vice President Harris’s campaign. She frequently refers to “Trump’s abortion bans” in states that have outlawed the procedure.
A Gallup poll released in June found that a record percentage of the electorate — 32 percent — said they would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on abortion, 23 percent of whom identified as pro-choice.
After Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, abortion rights activists said she would be able to campaign on this issue with more fluency and capability than President Biden, having supported abortion access throughout her career and touring the country to discuss reproductive rights in recent months.
Republicans have largely avoided talking about abortion. Trump made no mention of it during his record-long acceptance speech at the RNC, nor did his running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who has spoken against exceptions in the past, but now says he agrees with Trump.
Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), hammered the Trump-Vance ticket when it came to reproductive freedom during a campaign rally in Detroit this week.
Referring to Vance, Walz said, “I can’t wait to debate this guy. I cannot wait to talk about what they think. I can’t wait to ask him why he wants to take health care and take reproductive rights.”
Following the overturning of Roe, Walz was the first governor to codify abortion access in his state through legislation.