Trump defends refusal to back abortion ban: 'Exceptions are very important'

Former President Trump defended his hesitancy to back a national abortion ban, arguing “exceptions are very important” to restrictions put in place. 

Trump said in an interview Tuesday with political commentator John Solomon on his podcast, “John Solomon Reports,” some people want no exceptions to abortion prohibitions, but he supports exceptions for instances of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. 

“I'm a person that feels that the exceptions are very important for a lot of reasons,” he said. 

Trump also said he believes pushing for abortion bans with none of the exceptions he mentioned can cause difficulties for conservative candidates running in elections. 

"If you don't have the exceptions, it's very, very hard — and I think that's been proven — it's very, very hard to win an election," Trump argued.

"Now I don't say you do it for that, you do it for other reasons, moral reasons," he continued. "You do it for what you really believe, but it still is a very, very difficult thing to overcome, I would say, from the standpoint of an election."

He said earlier this month during a town hall with CNN that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year was a “great victory,” but he dodged a question on whether he would sign a national abortion ban or after how many weeks of pregnancy he would support a ban. 

Trump also mentioned during the event he supports exceptions for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, slammed Trump last month for a statement from his campaign in support of states deciding their restrictions instead of the federal government instituting a ban. The organization called it a “morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate.” 

The former president met with the group earlier this month to reiterate his opposition to “the extreme Democratic position” on abortion but note his support for exceptions to restrictions. 

The issue of abortion has appeared to be difficult for many Republicans to navigate in the aftermath of Roe being overturned. 

Republicans were leading in many polls for the generic congressional ballot for the midterm elections before Roe was overturned last June. But Democrats began taking a lead after and outperformed expectations in the elections, allowing them to hold on to a majority in the Senate and only losing the majority in the House by a few seats. 

Trump later blamed the “abortion issue” for Republicans’ underperformance in the midterms.