Hours after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning abortions after six weeks into law, the “Morning Joe” team weighed how such a partisan move may impact his chances in the general election were he to run for president in 2024.
Contributor Sam Stein, Politico’s White House editor, drew a comparison between former President Donald Trump’s and DeSantis’ policies on abortion, noting, candidly, that the difference is Trump “is a lot of things,” but he’s “not a total dummy.”
“Donald Trump really largely has stayed away from the abortion issue and remember blamed pro-lifers for the losses in the midterm elections,” said “Morning Joe” co-host Willie Geist, punting the mic to Stein. He agreed.
“It’s not just that he stayed away, he affirmatively came out after the midterm elections and said, ‘Hey, I think it’s the fact that we did not embrace exemptions for rape and incest that we lost,’” Stein said of the former president’s stance. “I mean, Trump is a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s a total dummy on the politics of this matter. I think he understands that it is a real albatross. And look, maybe he’s wrong, maybe he ends up embracing the six-week ban himself, because you just need to do that in the context of a Republican primary. But I think in the heart of their hearts, they know that this is a political loser for them.”
DeSantis’ proposal is not yet the law of the land as it is making its way to the conservative state Supreme Court, so Floridians can still currently get abortions up to 15 weeks. But, as Stein notes, it will “probably” be pushed down to six soon enough. The law does allow exemptions for rape and incest and for the mother’s livelihood and safety, all up to 15 weeks. Proper documentation of a police report, a restraining order, or some other comparable screed must be provided in such cases.
The Biden White House has responded to DeSantis’ six-week ban, writing in a statement, “The ban flies in the face of fundamental freedoms and is out of step with the views of the vast majority of the people of Florida and of all the United States. We will continue to fight to protect that access to abortion and defend reproductive rights.”
“I don’t know if this necessarily helps him in a primary,” Stein concluded of DeSantis. “I think, in fact, it might potentially hurt him in that it, you know, if you’re a Republican voter, even a middle-of-the-road Republican voter, you now conceivably say, ‘Wow, Ron DeSantis might not be as a electable in a general election as I thought he was. This will tangibly hurt his standing in a general election.’ I don’t know how big a deal it will be in the context of the Republican primary, but I don’t know if it’s a huge win or a surefire win, even, in that context.”
Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.
