Democrats pressed their advantage on the issue of abortion rights Wednesday after Republican JD Vance admitted the GOP has lost the trust of voters on the issue at the vice presidential debate and former President Trump shifted his stance on a national abortion ban.
The Republican vice presidential nominee surprised many on both sides of the reproductive rights debate by effectively conceding Democrats have the upper hand on the issue in an answer during the debate with Democratic rival Tim Walz.
“We’ve got to do much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue where they frankly, just don’t trust us,” Vance said.
Vance recounted a story of a female childhood friend who believed that having an abortion to end an unwanted pregnancy “saved her life.”
Democrats angrily pointed out that Vance supports abortion bans that would take that choice away from the woman he mentioned.
“That was clever to use that personal connection, but it isn’t right to have politicians make their decisions instead of women,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi said on CNN.
Walz, who registered what many analysts felt was an otherwise uneven debate performance, name checked several women impacted by Republican abortion bans, including Amber Thurman, a Georgia mom who died in 2022 after doctors delayed treating her for complications from a medication abortion.
A CBS News poll confirmed that debate viewers considered abortion to be Vance’s worst issue, with Walz polling 62% with viewers on the question of which candidate handled the topic best.
As the debate unfolded, Trump tweeted an all-caps statement promising he would veto a national abortion ban. He previously dodged questions about a potential veto at his own debate with Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump also recently flip-flopped on Florida’s abortion rights amendment, saying he would vote to uphold the state’s draconian six-week ban on the practice.
““The GOP ticket’s views on abortion are at best malleable and at worst extreme,” said Basil Smikle, a Columbia professor and Democratic strategist.
Brian Derrick, a Democratic strategist and founder of fundraising platform Oath.vote, said Vance’s response shows the GOP is struggling to contain the damage from the abortion issue.
“Vance said the quiet part out loud: Republicans’ extremist policies on abortion are out of step with everyday Americans’ views,” Derrick said. “Republicans are scrambling because they know they are going to pay a price for playing games with women’s lives.