The rivalry between Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis heated up.
But Trump threw his supporters a curveball.
And what Donald Trump said about Ron DeSantis just turned 2024 upside down.
In an interview with The Messenger, Donald Trump attacked DeSantis for signing legislation that protects life a six-weeks, which is when doctors can begin to detect a baby’s heartbeat.
Pro-Life activists celebrated this as a major victory, which ended Florida’s status as an abortion haven where over 80,000 abortions were conducted last year.
Trump – who presents himself as the most Pro-Life President in history – took a different tack, attacking the law as “too harsh.”
“He has to do what he has to do,” Trump stated. “If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.”
Trump – who was the first President to speak at the March for Life – flaunted his Pro-Life bona fides, noting that he was the one who finally delivered on the long-standing GOP promise to end Roe v. Wade with his three Supreme Court appointments.
“For 50 years, they’ve been trying to get rid of Roe v Wade. I was able to do it. Nobody else could have done that but me. And I was able to do it [by nominating] three excellent judges on the Justices of the Supreme Court. And I was able to do that,” Trump stated.
When The Messenger asked Trump if he thought six weeks was too harsh what limits he favored on abortion, Trump refused to commit.
“I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives,” Trump added. “But I was able to get us to the table by terminating Roe v. Wade. That’s the most important thing that’s ever happened for the pro-life movement.”
Conservatives were not happy.
Iowa Family Leader head Bob Vander Plaats blasted Trump for opposing protecting life at six weeks and said Trump’s comments threw the Iowa Caucus – where Pro-Life Evangelical Christians make up an outsized portion of the electorate – wide open.
“No, Mr. former President, many in the #ProLife community do not believe saving babies is too harsh. Joining @RonDeSantisFL is #Iowa @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds in leading on life. The #IowaCaucus door just flung wide open,” Vander Plaats wrote on Twitter.
Vander Plaats’ endorsement carries a lot of weight in Iowa.
His endorsement of Ted Cruz in 2016 proved pivotal in Cruz’s win over Trump in the Iowa Caucus.
If Vander Plaats endorses DeSantis over Trump, it could open the door for DeSantis to build momentum to win the nomination if DeSantis can ride the support of Pro-Life voters to victory in Iowa as it would shatter Trump’s aura of invincibility.
