Donald Trump is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to stating positions on the major issues of the day. Indeed, it’s not unusual for the former president to make bold declarations on issues he doesn’t know anything about.
But ask the Republican about his plans for abortion rights in a second term, and you’ll struggle to hear anything resembling a straight answer. Trump routinely takes credit for the demise of Roe v. Wade — a position voters will be hearing a lot more about in the fall — but he won’t publicly discuss his intentions for the future.
Six months ago, the likely GOP nominee said he’d somehow figure out a way to make “both sides“ happy with a compromise solution, but he didn’t identify what it might entail. Evidently, however, he has a relatively specific plan in mind. The New York Times reported:
Former President Donald J. Trump has told advisers and allies that he likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with three exceptions, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother, according to two people with direct knowledge of Mr. Trump’s deliberations.
NBC News has confirmed the reporting that the Republican privately supports a 16-week national abortion ban.
His campaign issued a press release soon after, which made no effort to deny the accuracy of the reporting. The statement did, however, credit Trump with overturning the Roe precedent, which, according to the press release, “sent the decision back to the states.”
Strictly speaking, that’s not quite right: When Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices struck down Roe, they also opened the door for Congress to impose a national abortion ban.
And therein lies the point: Trump apparently intends to make “both sides” happy with a compromise solution in the form of a national abortion ban — which, the last time I checked, is the goal of only one of the two sides.
But there was something else about this story that stood out for me: the former president’s 16-week target.
For those familiar with the details of the fight over reproductive rights, certain numbers become commonplace. Republican officials in some states have imposed six-week abortion bans. Others have created 12-week bans. We’ve also seen GOP officials approve 15-week, 18-week, and 22-week bans.
But in the larger debate, 16 is not a number that’s generally included in the conversation. So why is this Trump’s target? The Times report added: One thing Mr. Trump likes about a 16-week federal ban on abortions is that it’s a round number. “Know what I like about 16?” Mr. Trump told one of these people, who was given anonymity to describe a private conversation. “It’s even. It’s four months.”
Reading this, one might get the impression that the former president is approaching the issue with the sophistication of a child, and that impression would be more than fair. But it’s worth emphasizing that Trump has spent years pursuing specific policy goals based on whether he finds specific numerals appealing. In 2017, for example, as GOP officials tackled a massive package of tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations, Republican negotiators worked on new tax brackets. At the time, Trump wanted individual tax rates “to be multiples of 5” — not for any substantive reason, but because the then-president simply thought those numbers sounded nicer. Around the same time, Republicans embraced a plan that lowered the corporate tax rate to 21%. Trump tolerated the lower rate, though he preferred a 20% rate. “Twenty is a pretty number,” the then-president said at the time. It’s against this backdrop that Trump is approaching the future of abortion rights with the same degree of seriousness — which is lacking in anything resembling seriousness.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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