Trump highlights record of endorsement in Iowa speech, key to boosting evangelical vote

Former President Donald Trump put abortion at the center of a pre-recorded speech at a rally of religious conservatives in Iowa on Saturday, laying out his roadmap for how to gain influence with evangelical voters. showed.

Trump dived headlong into what is expected to be the marquee issue leading up to the 2024 problem, telling those who attended the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” spring kickoff to six conservative justices. Those who voted for the overthrow of Roe v. Wade reminded us that it was Trump who nominated three of them.

At the beginning of his speech, Mr Trump said, “I will stand up to a vile attack to confirm our country’s three great Supreme Court Justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.”

“After decades of work by organizations like yours, last year those judges scored a landmark victory to protect innocent lives,” he said. The Republicans were going to do it for exactly that period of time, 50 years, so they voted to make it another 50 years.

He added that he was the first president to attend the March for Life in Washington, an annual rally against abortion.

“From my first day in office, I took historic action to protect the unborn baby,” he said.

Trump’s pitch on abortion shows how he’s supported among evangelical voters, the Republican Party’s main voting bloc, amid offensive headlines that could complicate his relationship with religious rights. It gives us a glimpse of what we are trying to strengthen.

Trump faces an ongoing legal battle in New York over allegations that he falsified business records to cover up a series of hush money payments to cover up an extramarital affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels. ing.

Mr Trump has denied all allegations and wrongdoing.

His rivals generally sided with him by denouncing the criminal charges filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a political maneuver. cannot stop presenting

Nevertheless, abortion is expected to become a central issue in 2024. This is the first presidential election since the Supreme Court ruling on Roe.

Ahead of last year’s midterm elections, Democrats turned the decision into a campaign cry, urging voters to flood the polls and give Congress the votes it needs to “restore protection” from Law’s ruling. .

The issue has since received more attention with a high-profile ruling regarding federal approval of mifepristone, a drug used for abortion.

After a duel between federal judges in Texas and Washington earlier this month, the Supreme Court decided to intervene to keep the drug fully available on the market until the case was fully considered by the lower courts. forced to

Abortion is back in the spotlight, rekindling Democrats’ protests against Republicans.

Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris took to the streets of Los Angeles to denounce “extremist” attacks on abortion rights and make an impromptu stop at the Women’s March in the City of Angels.

“In our country, the so-called extremist leaders who dare to silence the voices of the people, the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in our country, recognized by the American people. It took away our constitutional rights,” she said.

Harris called abortion restrictions “immoral” and promised to oppose efforts by the White House to ban mifepristone.

Democrats’ outrage did little to deter Trump from embarrassing his professional life credentials on Saturday.

“As the most pro-life president in American history, I will continue to oppose the extreme late-term abortionists of the Democratic Party,” he said. “This is where we came from and it is so sad to see. I stand proud to defend an innocent life as did his four years so strong and mighty.” .”

— Seth McLaughlin contributed to this article