As Ron DeSantis’ path to the Republican presidential nomination appears to be narrowing, the Florida governor has decided to go all-in on perhaps his most divisive and potentially toxic policy stance: support of a six-week abortion ban.
But it appears DeSantis sees the issue as perhaps his best hope for scoring an upset victory in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest of the 2024 race in January. The DeSantis campaign believes a win in Iowa might push other candidates from the field, leaving him as voters' primary alternative to former President Donald Trump, the current favorite.
His comments outraged some evangelical leaders and handed DeSantis an opening he and his campaign quickly moved to exploit, as they argued Trump could not be trusted to stay the conservative course on the issue. Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, bought a video ad on Facebook citing Trump’s “betrayal” of the anti-abortion movement targeted at regions in Iowa that TrumpThe new push on abortion comes as DeSantis lags behind Trump in the race to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in November 2024, with the most recent Reuters/Ipsos national poll showing DeSantis trailing by 37 percentage points.
David Kochel, a veteran Republican operative in Iowa, said the abortion issue may cut against Republicans in a presidential election, but "as a primary issue, it is pretty salient." Abortion has become a political minefield for Republicans since Roe's overturn last year. While some anti-abortion advocates slammed Trump for his remarks his week, others have also been critical of DeSantis for not making clear whether he supports a sweeping federal ban on abortions or leaving the matter to states to regulate.
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