In every election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe two years ago, voters have turned out in big numbers to protest the decision and restore abortion rights statewide where possible. Reproductive freedom remains a major rallying cause for Democrats even as former President Donald Trump appears to have found a way to insulate himself from the voters’ wrath about losing this essential right.
“Trump heard the politics of the post-Dobbs world when he made it clear almost from the beginning, he wasn’t willing to go along with some of the more extreme responses, repeating over and over the Florida six-week ban is much too restrictive, denying exceptions is a big mistake, and resisting a federal law,” says Bill Galston, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s governance program.
“He positioned himself as something of a moderate,” Galston continues, “To give him credit, he found a way to neutralize an issue at least for himself. Unless he says something really stupid, he might yet get away with it. He might drive a wedge between himself and other Republicans.”
