As Josh Marshall notes, Trump's statement on abortion yesterday was nonsensical. He very much wants to avoid talking about abortion, because even the idiots and grifters around him have figured out that abortion is an electoral loser. His statement about "leaving it up to the states" is the sort of rhetorical dodge that Republican appointees to the Supreme Court would resort to in their confirmation hearings.
Again, as Marshall notes, the real question is whether he would sign a national ban if it reached his desk and would he apply the Comstock Act to the mailing of abortion medications. He never addressed this and he most likely never will. He can't win, because if he takes the popular position - Biden's position - he will lose his evangelical support. If he doesn't, he will lose the debate over Dobbs, which has altered the dynamics of every election since it was ushered from the Assembly of Religious Experts.
Trump does not do normal interviews with actual journalists. He sits down with Fox, OANN and Newsmax for fluff pieces. If he ever should cross paths with an actual journalist, will they try and pin him down? Or will they point to this bullshit non-statement as proof that Trump is a "moderate" for not wanting a national ban, when we all know he will sign one?
Folks like Yglesias continue to argue that Trump in 2016 was a moderate because he opposed Paul Ryan's plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, but I think we all know that if Congress passed such cuts, he would sign them. If a national abortion ban were to pass, he would sign that, too.
The press is unlikely to press him on this, but this is precisely the peril of having a debate with Biden.
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