Donald Trump’s search for a running mate may hinge on abortion, according to sources who spoke to NBC News.
During a dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month, Trump and some of his club members discussed the challenges the Republican Party is facing on the issue of abortion.
A source who attended the discussion told NBC News that one club member suggested that Trump needed to pick a running mate who wasn’t staunchly pro-life. Trump then surveyed his dinner guests to get their take on abortion.
According to the source, Trump was particularly interested in whether Senator Tim Scott’s pro-life position would turn off voters in the General Election.
The sources told NBC News that Trump has been hyper-focused on abortion, especially in considering his vice presidential pick. The former president reportedly believes that Democrats hold the advantage in the abortion debate.
One source suggested that it was unlikely Trump would risk choosing a running mate who supports a six-week limit on abortions or opposes exceptions like the life of the mother, rape, or incest.
Another source told NBC News that Trump has been asking where the other possible veep contenders, like Senator JD Vance, Rep. Elise Stafanik, Senator Marco Rubio, and Rep. Byron Donalds, stand on the abortion issue. The source claimed that Trump is worried about choosing a staunchly pro-life running mate out of fear that it would drag down the ticket in the General Election.
However, Trump’s own position on abortion has been difficult to pin down.
In a March 19 interview on WABC, Trump suggested that he would be willing to support a national 15-week abortion law.
In a phone-in interview on “Sid & Friends in the Morning,” on Tuesday, Trump said his administration would “come up with a time,” and suggested that many supported a 15-week limit on abortion, which he described as “reasonable.”
At the same time, Trump appeared to contradict himself, suggesting that abortion should not be a federal issue but one that was decided on the state level.
