Like abortion, birth control has become an awkward talking point for the GOP. Trump on Tuesday ran into this problem head-on.
During an interview with a Pittsburgh news channel, the former president did not rule out potential restrictions on birth control if he wins a second term, instead saying, “We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly.”
He reiterated that the decision should be left up to states but added he would have more details on his plans “within a week or so.”
“Things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policies than others,” Trump said.
Trump quickly sought to clarify his stance on his social media platform Truth Social, writing that he didn’t actually mean what he said in the interview. “I WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL,” he wrote.
This didn’t stop the Biden camp from going after Trump’s comments, with Biden-Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika saying in a statement,
“Women across the country are already suffering from Donald Trump’s post-Roe nightmare, and if he wins a second term, it’s clear he wants to go even further by restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives.”
Trump has long avoided directly commenting on hot-button policy topics such as abortion and contraception that have been tripping up Republicans ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Still, Trump regularly takes credit for the decision, and he did so again Tuesday.
