Washington (Associated Press) Donald Trump Trump is scheduled to speak Saturday to a group of politically influential evangelicals who are his ardent supporters but want the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to promise tougher abortion restrictions.
Trump's Opposition expressed Sign a nationwide ban abortion And his reluctance to elaborate on some of his views on the issue has put him at odds with many members of the evangelical movement, which is a key part of Trump's base and is expected to help boost voter turnout in his rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in November.
President Trump, who has appointed three Supreme Court justices who have overturned federally guaranteed rights to an abortion, has argued that supporting a nationwide abortion ban would be a political blow to Republicans. About two-thirds of Americans say abortion should generally be legal, according to a poll conducted last year by The Associated Press-NORC Public Policy Center.
Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which Trump will speak to on Saturday, said people in the movement want a federal ban on abortion and want Republican elected officials to be “courageous figures” who will “express strong pro-life views.”
But Reid said Trump's stance did not risk losing the support of evangelical voters, who have been more tolerant of Trump than other politicians.
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“I don't think it will be a negative for him at all because he has tremendous credibility on this issue,” Reid said. “He's done more for the pro-life and pro-family movement than any president in the history of the pro-life movement.”
About 1 in 8 white evangelical Christian voters supported Trump in 2020, and about 1 in 4 people who voted for Trump identified as a white evangelical Christian, according to AP VoteCast, a broad survey of voters. White evangelical Christians made up about 20% of all voters that year.
In addition to making its own endorsements in the general election, Reid's group plans to use volunteers and paid workers to go door-to-door to millions of people in battleground states to urge voters for Trump and other Republican candidates.
Trump still takes credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, but abortion It's politically difficult for Republicans. For months, he had put off questions about his position on a nationwide ban.
Last year, Trump Dealt with Speaking about Reed's group, he said “the federal government has a vital role to play in protecting unborn lives,” but did not provide further details.
This April, Trump said he believes in the issue. “It should now be left to the states. He later said in an interview that he would not sign a national abortion ban, even if Congress passed one.” He still did not give details of his position. Women's access to the abortion drug mifepristone.
In 2016, white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to support Trump, skeptical of his image as a twice-divorced New York tabloid celebrity who had once described himself as “very pro-abortion.”
But his promise to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe and his decision to nominate Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, as his vice presidential running mate in 2016 helped garner support for the movement.
Several Republicans considered to be Trump's running mate also spoke at the conference, including Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, former presidential candidate and Trump housing secretary Ben Carson, and Arizona Senate candidate Kali Lake. Republicans who received the screening documents Statements from the Trump campaign in recent weeks.
Reid said members of his coalition are watching them closely and are hopeful that Trump will choose someone who shares his views.
“We're looking for someone who will be an advocate, a family advocate, a life advocate, a pro-Israel advocate, and someone who has the ability to bring new people on board and act as an ambassador for our values,” he said.
Reid declined to say which players were the best or worst, saying “there are so many of them it's hard to choose.”
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Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson DeVoe contributed to this report.
