Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has again questioned formerPresident Donald Trump’s commitment to the pro-life cause. The remarks came during an interview with David Brody of CBN News.
During the interview, Brody asked Governor DeSantis how he intended to attract Evangelical voters, who would otherwise vote for Trump, into his camp. In his response, DeSantis touted the conservative policy efforts and political victories he's led as unrivaled by any other Republican in the country. Moreover, he contrasted his commitment to supporting the pro-life movement to, as he sees it, Trump’s lukewarmness on the issue.
DeSantis recalled his passage of the Florida Heartbeat Protection Act, which Trump failed to support. “While I appreciate what the former president has done in a variety of realms, (Trump) opposes that bill, he said it was ‘harsh’ to protect an unborn child when there’s a detectable heartbeat”, said DeSantis.
JUST IN: @RonDeSantis says Donald Trump has gone soft on abortion. In our exclusive interview, he tells me he was surprised that Trump called the Florida Heartbeat Bill "harsh." So much more from our blockbuster interview with Gov. DeSantis on @700club Friday! More clips soon! pic.twitter.com/qsOOfz4Xfk
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
The Florida governor has undermined Trump on this issue in the past, as he previously did so last May during an exchange with The Floridian Editor Javier Manjarres.
Manjarres cited President Trump’s comments, stating Gov. DeSantis’s six-week abortion bill as being “too harsh,” even for some pro-lifers, according to Trump. DeSantis responded, stating, “Protecting an unborn child when there’s the detectable heartbeat is something that almost probably 99% of pro-lifers support. It’s something that other states like Iowa under Governor Kim Reynolds have enacted and I think that as a Florida resident, [Trump] didn’t give an answer about would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did, that had all the exceptions that people talk about the legislature put it in. I signed the bill. I was proud to do it. He would not answer whether he would sign it or not.”
BREAKING— @GovRonDeSantis calls out President Trump for not saying he supports Florida’s 6-week abortion law #flpol pic.twitter.com/5SJ1kmZcUe
— Javier Manjarres (@JavManjarres) May 16, 2023
The referenced Heartbeat Bill, officially the ‘Heartbeat Protection Act’, was signed into law last April 13, 2023. The legislation prohibits abortions once an unborn child has a detectible heartbeat.
While the two republican frontrunners will cross swords on a variety of different issues, abortion is surely to figure prominently throughout the primaries and general election.
