Governor Ron DeSantis punched back at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump on Tuesday, responding to criticism from the former president over Florida’s recently-passed six-week “heartbeat” abortion ban.
Speaking recently with interviewer Marc Caputo, Trump acknowledged the move to limit abortion by saying that while DeSantis “has to do what he has to do,” he felt that “many people within the pro-life movement” might consider the measures “too harsh.”
Pressed on whether he would have signed the law, the former president told Caputo, “I’m looking at all [options]” and did not commit to a specific federal cut-off for abortion.
“What are your thoughts on that?” DeSantis was asked Tuesday while speaking to reporters.
“I signed the bill. I was proud to do it. He will not answer whether he would sign it or not,” DeSantis said in Lighthouse Point. “Protecting an unborn child when there’s the detectable heartbeat is something that almost, probably, 99% of pro-lifers support. It’s something that other states like Iowa under Gov. Kim Reynolds have enacted.”
He continued, hitting Trump directly and accusing the former president of dodging questions on abortion.
“And I think that as a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer to the question, ‘Would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did that had all the exceptions that people talk about?’ The Legislature put it in.”
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“Protecting a child with a detectable heartbeat is something 99% of Pro-Lifers support.
As a Florida resident [Trump] would not say whether he would sign that”
Governor DeSantis calls out President Trump on his liberal abortion stance.
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) May 16, 2023
Speaking in Iowa last weekend, DeSantis called on Republicans to “reject the culture of losing that has affected [the] party in recent years.”
“The time for excuses is over. If we make the 2024 election, a referendum on Joe Biden, his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board. If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past, than I think that Democrats are going to defeat us again.”
When asked for his thoughts on DeSantis’s speech, Trump told Caputo that he rejected the idea that he is “all caught up in the past.”
“I’m doing much better against Biden than he is in the polls, and I’m doing much better against him. I mean, I’m beating [DeSantis] by 40 points in some polls, so he can talk about what he wants.”
“I did very well in the midterms,” Trump added. [My endorsed candidates won] 233 out of 253 races, which nobody wants to report.”
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