During the Presidential Debate on CNN, both former President Trump and current President Biden were asked where they stand regarding abortion.
On Monday, X owner Elon Musk came after Vice President Kamala Harris for “lying” about what former President Trump thought of a national abortion ban.
In another post on Musk’s platform, Harris said: “Donald Trump would ban abortion nationwide. President @JoeBiden and I will do everything in our power to stop him and restore women’s reproductive freedom.”
However, Harris’ statement was refuted with the feature of Community Notes, the platform’s way for readers to offer context to messages viewed as false or lacking context.
Trump has argued that states, not the federal government, should decide how abortion can be limited or outlawed – a belief he reiterated in an introductory video he posted to Truth Social last week.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said.
An Associated Press report that was cited to fact check Harris asserted, “Trump declines to endorse a national abortion ban. He says limits should be left to the states.”
Musk publicly reprimanded Harris, accusing her of ‘lying’ in the musk post on Twitter.
“When will politicians, or at least the intern who runs their account, learn that lying on this platform doesn’t work anymore?” Musk asked.
Last week, Trump was asked in CNN’s Presidential Debate about whether he would take away abortion medication that’s available to women.
“First of all, the Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill and I agree with their decision to have done that, and I will not block it,” Trump said, referring to mifepristone.
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade when, in 2022, Trump welcomed the decision to reinstate it and allowed states to decide on abortion access. The landmark decision did not outlaw abortion nationwide, but declared that the use of it was no longer a right existing in the Constitution.
“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted,” Trump said. “Now the states are working it out.”
But, Trump has faced criticism for claiming the decision was something “everyone wanted.”
A Gallup survey last year found 61 percent of Americans think overturning Roe was a “bad thing.”
But Trump maintained that, like former President Ronald Reagan, he believes in “exceptions.”
“I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes, and frankly, I think it is important to believe in the exceptions,” Trump said. “Some people, you have to follow your heart, some people don’t believe in that. But I believe in the exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I think it’s very important.”
