Trump at center of abortion warnings on Dobbs anniversary – Washington Examiner

Democrats are signaling the central role abortion access will play in November with a bevy of statements targeting former President Donald Trump on the second anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

Since the Supreme Court issued its ruling, Democrats have delivered better-than-expected performances in both the 2022 midterm and 2023 off-year elections, a phenomenon widely attributed to their campaign messaging on the topic.

Trump has attempted to galvanize Republicans around an answer to that line of attack, largely by urging his party to reject a national abortion ban and keep the matter a state issue.

Yet President Joe Biden and his surrogates believe the role Trump played in appointing a conservative Supreme Court majority will keep abortion in play for another election cycle despite his efforts to inoculate his party.

“Nov. 5 is right around the corner, and I want you to know that the DNC is putting its foot on the gas. We will make sure that every voter in America, every single one, knows that Donald Trump is responsible for ripping away reproductive rights,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison told reporters on Thursday while previewing the party’s plans for Monday’s anniversary. “Americans deserve the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.”

Biden was even more pointed in a Monday statement marking the second anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: “Donald Trump is the sole person responsible for this nightmare.”

Trump has attempted to split the difference with his campaign messaging on abortion. Even as he warns there could be electoral consequences if Republicans do not pivot, he also takes credit for the win he delivered to evangelicals.

In a keynote speech before a Christian conference on Saturday in Washington, D.C., the former president thanked the Supreme Court’s conservative majority “for the wisdom and the courage they showed on this long-term, very contentious issue.”

Biden’s strategy has been to seize on Trump embracing the three Supreme Court justices he appointed while accusing the former president of lying about his opposition to a federal ban.

“For him, these cruel state bans are a ‘beautiful thing to watch’ — and they’re just beginning. This is a man who brags about overturning Roe v. Wade, has called for women who access reproductive health care to be punished — and says he would rule as a dictator on day one,” Biden said in his Monday statement. “If given the chance, there is no question he will ban abortion nationwide, with or without the help of Congress. You don’t have to take my word for it — his advisors have already laid out the plans to do it.”

Trump, for his part, has advised Republicans to paint the Democrats as extreme on the matter.

Biden is conducting debate preparation ahead of Thursday’s nationally televised showdown with Trump, and beyond the statement he put out Monday morning, he is not taking a vocal part in the Democrats’ messaging plans for Monday.

The Biden campaign will host more than 50 events across the country with surrogates, supporters, and celebrities. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden, the president’s top two abortion rights messengers, will take part in two events each.

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“When the Supreme Court and extremists around the country have taken such a fundamental freedom — like the freedom to make decisions about your body, your own body — you should assume anything could be on the table,” Harris told reporters in June. “And that should be a wake-up call to everyone.”