Current:Home > InvestDeSantis goes after Trump on abortion, COVID-19 and the border wall in an Iowa town hall -AssetTrainer
DeSantis goes after Trump on abortion, COVID-19 and the border wall in an Iowa town hall
View
Date:2025-04-15 11:29:58
Donald Trump “flip-flipped” on abortion, overreached in response to COVID-19 and failed to uphold his campaign pledge to get Mexico to pay for a wall on the southern U.S. border, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday in Iowa.
DeSantis, who is in a distant second place behind Trump in most national polls in the battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, stepped up his case against the former president during a CNN town hall in Des Moines five weeks before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
He zeroed in on abortion in a state where evangelical voters form the backbone of the GOP, contrasting Trump’s recent skepticism about strict anti-abortion laws with his earlier comments about protecting the sanctity of life.
“You should be consistent in your beliefs, especially on something that’s very fundamental, and he has not been consistent,” DeSantis said. “And there’s a lot of voters in Iowa who really care about this, who need to know how he’s changed his position.”
DeSantis last month picked up the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, a prominent Iowa evangelical leader who has also questioned Trump’s commitment to the anti-abortion movement. Trump has responded by emphasizing his support from more than 150 pastors around the state.
Abortion has become a flashpoint in U.S. politics since a Supreme Court majority shaped by Trump’s three appointments eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, helping to power unexpectedly strong Democratic performances in the 2022 midterms. Trump has not backed a national abortion ban and has criticized the way many Republican politicians talk about the issue. He has implied that a Florida law DeSantis signed, which outlaws abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, is “ too harsh.”
Asked about the case of Kate Cox, a Texas woman who sought an abortion when her health deteriorated as she carried a fetus with a fatal condition, DeSantis was vague. He said “these are very difficult issues” and pointed to the Florida law’s exceptions allowing abortions when the mother’s life is in danger, though in Cox’s case, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that her pregnancy complications did not constitute the kind of medical emergency under which abortions are allowed.
DeSantis has staked his campaign on a strong showing in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses on Jan. 15, but he’s struggled to break out of a distant second place. Like most of his rivals, he has largely treated the front-runner gingerly, avoiding direct criticism of Trump, who remains popular with GOP primary voters.
But sprinkled through the CNN town hall was a case to Trump-supporting voters that it’s time to move on. Trump, he said, is no longer the colorful “America First” advocate whom Republicans embraced in 2016.
“Now a lot of it’s about him,” DeSantis said.
And he worked to pierce rosy memories of Trump’s tenure in the White House. He said Trump erred in his response to COVID-19, an issue that helped catapult DeSantis to GOP prominence when he refused to go along with strict lockdowns that most other governors imposed early in the pandemic.
“The first three years of the Trump administration, the economy’s better than it has been, but that last year with COVID, I think was mishandled dramatically,” DeSantis said. “Shutting down the country was a huge mistake. Printing trillions and trillions of dollars was a huge mistake.”
DeSantis also took aim at one of the defining themes of Trump’s first run for the White House: his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and have the Mexican government pay for it.
“That didn’t happen,” DeSantis said. “And why didn’t it happen? Well, one, I think he got distracted, and he didn’t do it on day one. But, two, he didn’t utilize the levers of power that he had.”
veryGood! (33965)
Related
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- 2024 WNBA playoffs bracket: Standings, matchups, first round schedule and results
- Were people in on the Montreal Screwjob? What is said about the incident in 'Mr. McMahon'
- Marcellus Williams executed in Missouri amid strong innocence claims: 'It is murder'
- Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
- Rapper Fatman Scoop's cause of death revealed a month after death: Reports
- Prodigy to prison: Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in FTX crypto scandal
- Johnny Depp calls Amber Heard defamation trial 'a soap opera' while promoting new film
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Judge approves $600 million settlement for residents near fiery Ohio derailment
Ranking
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Helene's explosive forecast one of the 'most aggressive' in hurricane history
- Wisconsin rock climber dies after fall inside Devils Tower National Monument
- Will Young Voters’ Initial Excitement for Harris Build Enough Momentum to Get Them to the Polls?
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- It's a new world for college football players: You want the NIL cash? Take the criticism.
- District attorney is appointed as judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals
- Boy Meets World’s Maitland Ward Shares How Costar Ben Savage Reacted to Her Porn Career
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Dancing With the Stars’ Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber Have Cheeky Response to Romance Rumors
Adam Pearson is ready to roll the dice
Court upholds finding that Montana clinic submitted false asbestos claims
As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
Travis Kelce’s Grotesquerie Costars Weigh In on His Major Acting Debut
Tarek El Moussa Shares Update on Ex Christina Hall Amid Divorce
A Missouri man has been executed for a 1998 murder. Was he guilty or innocent?