- Trump broke with his running mate over abortion in Tuesday’s debate
Sen. JD Vance says he won’t try to speak on Donald Trump’s behalf in the future after the vice presidential nominee expressed a conflicting view on the federal abortion ban.
The admission came after a moment in Tuesday’s debate in which the former president parted ways with his running mate and said they have not yet discussed a veto of a nationwide abortion ban.
“I think I’ve learned my lesson about speaking up for the president before he and I have spoken about an issue,” Vance said in an interview with Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday morning.
The Ohio senator said last month that his goal was to reiterate that Trump has been clear that he does not support the idea of a national ban, but that he also believes the issue would never cross his desk because it would not go through Congress in the first place.
Sen. JD Vance says he’s “learned my lesson” about speaking publicly on Donald Trump’s behalf before they specifically spoke on an issue after he said the former president would veto a national abortion bill if it reached his desk.
Asked during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday whether he would veto a bill banning abortions at the federal level, Trump was noncommittal.
“I won’t have to,” he insisted.
But when ABC debate moderator Linsey Davis pressed him about Vance’s comments just weeks earlier, the former president broke with his running mate.
“To be fair, I didn’t discuss that with JD,” Trump said on stage. “JD, and I don’t care if he has a certain opinion, but I think I was speaking for myself. But I really didn’t.”
In an interview with Welker in August, Vance said he “believes” Trump would not sign a bill regulating abortions nationwide. And he reiterated Sunday that “a national abortion ban is not on the table.”
“I think he’s been clear: I would not support him. He said that explicitly,” the Republican vice presidential candidate said last month.
“I mean if you don’t support it as president of the United States, you basically have to veto it,” he added.
Asked last whether Trump would veto the proposal, Vance said: “I think he would. He explicitly said he would.”
Trump was noncommittal in Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris when asked if he would veto an abortion ban, but said he does not support regulating abortions at the federal level.
Vance is now retracting his statement but maintains that the Republican ticket for 2024 does not support a national abortion ban.
“We hadn’t discussed it. We certainly haven’t discussed it yet. Because it’s not realistic,” Vance said Sunday.
“He’s been incredibly clear that he doesn’t support a national abortion ban,” the senator said of Trump. “He wants abortion policy to be decided by the states. Because he thinks Alabama is going to make a different decision than California and that’s fine. We’re a big country, we can disagree.”
“I think President Trump has been clear: a national abortion ban is not on the table. I would not support it or sign it,” Vance concluded.