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Jezebel: “It’s an utterly head-spinning interview reflective of the GOP’s desperation in the face of their wildly unpopular abortion bans.”
With less than 50 days until Election Day, vulnerable anti-choice House Republicans like John Duarte are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.
Republicans know that the overwhelming majority of voters support reproductive rights, so they’re playing desperate games to avoid confronting their deeply unpopular records.
SHOT: John Duarte called himself and former President Trump “functionally pro-choice” in an interview with CNN last weekend.
CHASER: Duarte — who has admitted he’s “not that far from a lot of these Freedom Caucus guys” — voted to restrict a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, voted to ban widely-used abortion medication, and expressed support for the Dobbs decision that ended Roe v. Wade.
DCCC Spokesperson Dan Gottlieb:
“If John Duarte thinks women believe an ounce of his lies and gaslighting after he voted in this Congress to restrict reproductive rights — and punish doctors for doing their jobs — he has another thing coming. Adam Gray will send this dangerous hypocrite packing in November.”
Jezebel: GOP Congressman Decides to Change Definition of ‘Pro-Choice’ to ‘Pro-Whatever Will Get Me Re-Elected’
Kylie Cheung | September 16, 2024
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Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.), who won his seat against Democrat Adam Gray by only 564 votes in 2022, has previously expressed support for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which, of course, ended the federal right to abortion that same year. In March, he voted for a budget proposal that included a ban on medication abortion. Yet, on Sunday, just 50 days out from the election, Duarte told CNN that he and former President Trump are both “pro-choice.”
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“I am pro-choice. I believe the president [Trump] is functionally pro-choice,” Duarte, who’s in a hotly contested rematch against Gray for California’s 13th, said. “He wants the states to make their policy themselves, he doesn’t want to federalize abortion law, and neither do I.” CNN pressed Duarte, pointing out that Trump “opposes abortion rights,” to which Duarte lied, “No he doesn’t. He says—states are moving towards abortion rights one-by-one. The Dobbs decision put it back in the states. I believe abortion belongs in the states.” The CNN reporter then clarifies, “So, you supported the Dobbs decision but you’re pro-choice?” Duarte answers, “I’m pro-choice.”
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It’s an utterly head-spinning interview reflective of the GOP’s desperation in the face of their wildly unpopular abortion bans. All polling shows that voters are against forced pregnancy and birth, as well as the total upending of the medical system. Consequently, up and down the ballot, Republicans from Donald Trump and JD Vance to Ted Cruz and, apparently, Duarte, are trying to distance themselves from their own previously expressed positions—in this instance, by lying that they’re “pro-choice.” But, lest there be any confusion, Duarte has the endorsement of Californians For Life, an anti-abortion group against exceptions even for rape or incest.
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Duarte’s laughable comments come just weeks after Trump posted on Truth Social that he would be “great for women and their reproductive rights” if elected—as if he wasn’t already president, appointed anti-abortion extremists to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary, and saw to abortion being banned in nearly half of all states. Since April, Trump has performatively come out against a national abortion ban and says he supports leaving the issue to the states—the current, desperate state of affairs that routinely results in patients being denied life-saving care. We know, of course, that if elected, there’s a good chance Trump will enact Project 2025, the far-right agenda that lays out how he can bypass Congress to impose a national ban.
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It’s obvious why Trump, Republican candidates, and many anti-abortion activists are lying—they’re trying to win elections. But this approach could come with its own electoral costs: Top anti-abortion organizations, which hold powerful influence over key evangelical demographics that Trump, specifically, will need to win the election, are coming out against Trump for his approach to the issue.
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Fewer than eight weeks out from the election, Republicans’ strategy on abortion continues to mutate. Can’t wait to see what kind of pretzel they try to twist themselves into next, as we inch closer and closer to November.
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