Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Monday broke with Donald Trump over the former president’s call for states to set any future limits on abortion — a rare glimpse of daylight between the presumptive nominee and conservative lawmakers.
“I respectfully disagree with President Trump’s statement that abortion is a states’ rights issue,” Graham said in a statement. Trump also declined to endorse any national limits on abortion, including the 15-week limit that Graham has controversially floated in the past.
The South Carolina Republican added that he would stand by his call for “a national minimum standard limiting abortion at fifteen weeks.” He has, however, yet to reintroduce his legislation proposing that standard during the current Congress.
Trump said in 2016 that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who seek abortion care and has touted his efforts to pave the way for the Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade. Given that past rhetoric, Democrats are unlikely to stop hitting him on the issue as it continues to split Trump from his party’s right flank.
Democrats urged voters not to accept Trump’s newest messaging on the issue, pointing to his role in filling the Supreme Court with justices who subsequently overturned Roe.
“Don’t let Donald Trump con you,” wrote Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “He IS the reason 1 in 3 American women have lost their freedoms to make their own decisions about abortion.”
