Donald Trump appeared to be unfamiliar with the widely-used and extremely safe abortion drug Mifepristone when asked a question about it by a reporter Thursday afternoon at his Mar-a-Lago press conference. Critics are blasting his remarks.
The ex-president, who is currently down in the polls as Vice President Kamala Harris has flipped the trajectory of the election, pushed though his answer while leaving the impression he would support banning the drug, effectively moving the country closer to a nationwide near-total ban on abortion, while also supporting having the general public vote nationally on the issue.
Trump has repeatedly bragged he ended Roe v. Wade by putting three right-wing justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who stripped away the constitutional right to abortion. But as public opinion has come out sharply against that ruling he has tried to sidestep it, angering anti-abortion activists and his evangelical Christian base.
On Thursday, asked if he would “direct your FDA, for example, to revoke access to Mifepristone?” Trump interrupted the reporter to provide an answer (video below).
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“You could do things that will be, 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 and the votes are taking place right now as we speak. There are many things on a humane basis that you can do outside of that, but you also have to give a vote and the people are going to have to decide.”
Trump appeared to be suggesting he would order the FDA to ban the abortion drug Mifepristone, while claiming there are alternatives to it, which defeats the intended purpose of a ban. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of all abortions in the U.S. are done via medication abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In 2020 that number was 53%.
There is no medical evidence that would necessitate banning Mifepristone.
The ex-president also appeared to be unaware that, outside of a constitutional amendment and elections, the U.S. has never held a national referendum on any issue, and there is no constitutional method to “give a vote” so “the people” can decide the issue.
Strong majorities of Americans support the right to abortion, and even stronger majorities oppose a national abortion ban, the Associated Press reported last month.
Many of those who watched the former president Thursday and remarked on social media expressed astonishment at his response.
“Preceding the question,” noted Los Angeles Times columnist Jackie Calmes, “Trump says Harris isn’t smart. Then he takes the mifepristone question: He clearly has no idea what he’s talking about–the drug used in 2/3 of abortions today–& seems to suggest, yes, his FDA will revoke it (as the right wants).”
“It’s like bad improv at this point,” commented U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) “Not funny, not present, doesn’t understand the word the audience just tried to prompt him with… but massively overconfident in his skills.”
“He has no idea what mifepristone is,” remarked columnist and former Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett.
“Trump’s answer is pure gibberish. He has no idea what mifepristone is or what he’s saying,” wrote communications strategist Laura Chapin.
“Sweet Jesus,” exclaimed communications professor and McClatchy News columnist Issac Bailey. “This dude is trying to BS his way through important policy questions, which he clearly knows next to nothing about.”
“Yeah,” wrote Jessica Mason Pieklo, Executive Editor and senior vice president of the Rewire News Group, “this man has no idea what mifepristone is lol.”
“He tried to couch it in nonsensical double-speak,” noted political strategist Maya Rupert, “but here is Trump confirming that he would direct his FDA to revoke access to medication abortion NATIONWIDE. This is a national abortion ban. This is what we are voting on.”
“If any other presidential candidate gave a non-answer this incoherent, it would lead the news for like 5 days,” remarked author and University of Pennsylvania scholar and instructor Brian Rosenwald. “I mean I’ve seen toddlers be more coherent. Does he know what Mifepristone is?”
Watch the video of Trump below.
