Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC commentator and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that Democrats should use Donald Trump’s noncommittal stance on abortion against him in the upcoming presidential election. Pelosi said Trump’s attempt to take credit for the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade should be weaponized by her party.
“Is this something Democrats should be hanging around [Trump’s] neck more?” Psaki asked, referring to a Truth Social post in which the former president said he was able to “kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone.”
“Yeah,” Pelosi replied, “because, first of all, it’s an hypocrisy of the first order. But without going into his, shall we say, inconsistencies, to use a gentler word, yeah, that’s what he’s saying. And I think that has clarity.”
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Pelosi’s response was part of a larger interview with Psaki that will air Sunday on MSNBC. Psaki interpreted Pelosi’s comments to MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell on Friday.
“What [Pelosi] was saying in her answer there is that regardless of what Donald Trump has said or hasn’t said about an abortion ban, he is somebody who Democrats should run against as opposing women’s rights, opposing women’s access to health care,” Psaki said. “Her point is they’re not giving protections, they’re not protecting women’s fundamental rights that have been the law of the land for 50 years. That is the message, that’s how we should be talking about it as we look to 2024.”
Trump took credit for the Dobbs decision last month, days after he said people within the pro-life movement found Florida’s six-week abortion ban to be “too harsh” in an attempt to bash his 2024 Republican primary opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“[DeSantis] has to do what he has to do,” Trump said in an interview with “The Messenger” when asked about Florida’s new abortion restrictions. “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.”
The article clarified Trump would not say whether he himself believed a six-week ban went too far.
