President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is linking former President Donald Trump to the Republican push for a national abortion ban in a new digital ad buy targeting Iowa, South Dakota and Florida.
Titled “These Guys,” the 1-minute ad also highlights the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to restoring the national guarantee to abortion that had previously been enshrined in Roe v. Wade.
“Reproductive healthcare decisions are among the most personal a woman will ever make,” the ad narrator says. “They are choices that should be made by you and your doctor. And the last people who should be involved are these guys.”
The ad then shows clips of Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., voicing support for restrictions on abortion. All three are running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
“First of all, I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade,” Trump says in one clip. In another, the former president is asked, “Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no as a principle,” to which he replies, “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.”
Targeting Trump appearances in Iowa and South Dakota, the ad also takes aim at Florida, where a hearing on Friday will determine whether a six-week abortion ban signed into law by DeSantis will take effect.
A conservative victory 50 years in the making, the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe in June 2022 led to backlash for Republicans in the midterm elections. Some pundits claimed that the decision helped Democrats avert what was predicted to be a bloodbath at the ballot box.
Biden’s reelection team is hoping to again tap into women’s anger over the abortion ruling and use it to propel the president to victory in the 2024 election.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are determined to restore Roe v. Wade, and they will never allow a national abortion ban to become law,” the narrator in the ad states. “As long as they are in office, decisions about your body will be made by you, not by them.”
While most Republican presidential candidates support restrictions on abortion access, they have disagreed on whether a national abortion ban is the most effective way to limit abortion. Trump has frequently dodged questions about a federal abortion ban and other candidates have said such a ban is not feasible or that the question of abortion should be left up to the states.
Anti-abortion groups including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America are pushing for Republican candidates to support a 15-week abortion ban.
“As Donald Trump visits states where women are suffering the consequences of his extreme, anti-abortion agenda, this ad reminds voters in states that have passed some of the most extreme abortion bans of Trump’s key role in appointing conservative justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“We will not shy away from casting a spotlight on extreme Republicans and their dangerous efforts to take away women’s right to choose. President Biden and Vice President Harris stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans against these bans, and for codifying Roe into law.”
Part of a 16-week, $25 million ad campaign, the spot reportedly aired in a number of other battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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