To The Point

We're at a point now where the only sure way to win a Republican primary election is to stake out positions that will all but guarantee you'll lose in the general election.

I'd normally say it doesn't really hurt my feelings to watch Republicans shooting themselves in the foot, but it makes for a very unsustainable political system, so I have to keep trying to convince Republicans to knock that shit off.

Call me Sisyphus.

WASHINGTON, June 24 - Former President Donald Trump said the federal government has a role in regulating late term abortions, but declined to provide specifics on what that role was in a speech to a conservative audience on Saturday night.

Trump has been relatively quiet on the issue of abortion throughout his campaign for a second term, putting him at odds with other Republican presidential hopefuls including his current biggest threat to the party nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who enacted a six week ban on abortions in his state.

When the guy takes every opportunity to go out of his way to brag about how he overturned Roe v Wade, I don't quite get how he's been "relatively quiet" about it, Reuters.

"There of course remains a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life," Trump told attendees at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual conference in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night. "We will defeat the radical Democrat policy of extreme late term abortion."

Late term abortions, which take place after 21 weeks, are extremely rare, representing just 1% of all abortions, and are often due to fetal abnormalities or threats to the mother's life.

Trump touted his record of appointing three judges to the Supreme Court, which gave the court the conservative majority needed to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case which created federal protections for abortion.

The issue of abortion is likely to become a defining one of the 2024 election. Republican candidates are wooing far right Christian voters with commitments to ban the medical procedure - South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has said he would ban it at 15 weeks, and former Vice President Mike Pence has committed to signing a federal ban on it entirely.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted April 11-12 found that 56% of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a politician who supports legislation limiting access to abortion, while 28% would be more likely to.