‘You’re going to make a comeback’ if I win

Former President Trump on Monday virtually addressed a conservative Christian rights advocacy group who supports ending abortion, telling the organization’s members that if he is re-elected, they will “come back like no other group.”

Trump delivered a roughly two-minute recorded video message at the Danbury Institute’s Life and Liberty Forum, which featured remarks from evangelists and Christian leaders. He didn `t do mention of abortion in his comments to the group, although he promised to defend “innocent life” if re-elected.

“These are difficult times for our nation and your work is very important. We cannot allow anyone to sit on the sidelines,” said Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for November. “Now is the time for us all to come together and defend our values ​​and our freedoms. And you just can’t vote Democrat.”

Trump has stated that Democrats are “against religion,” although President Biden often speaks about his Catholic faith.

“We must defend religious freedom, freedom of expression, innocent life, and the heritage and tradition that made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. But now we are, as you know, a nation in decline,” Trump told the group.

“I know each of you protects these values ​​every day, and I hope we defend them side by side over the next four years,” he continued. “These will be your years, because you will make a comeback like no other group.”

Trump’s virtual appearance at the Danbury Institute made headlines due to the group’s hard-line approach to certain issues.

The group describe yourself as “committed to truth and virtue in a world that validates the absurd as normal and ridicules what 10 years ago was taken for granted.” His website compares abortion to “child sacrifice on the altar of self” and that marriage “is a unique union between a man and a woman for life, and sexual intimacy should be expressed only within this marital relationship.” .

During the campaign, Trump was repeatedly credited with ending Roe v. Wade. Wade by appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. But he also refused to take a position on a federal limit on abortion, saying instead that it should be left up to each state to decide, through legislation or referendum, how to handle the procedure.

Trump also argued that Republicans must take into account the political ramifications of their messages on abortion.

“You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win the election to restore our culture and, in fact, to have our country, which is currently, and very unfortunately, a nation in decline,” Trump said. in a statement. April video statement about abortion. Our nation needs help. It needs unity, it needs us all to work closely together.”

Democrats have repeatedly linked Trump to restrictive abortion policies enacted in Texas, Florida and other conservative states, highlighting stories of women who, as a result, have been unable to obtain adequate health care.

Biden’s campaign sought to draw a clear contrast between Trump’s record on abortion and that of the Biden White House, which took steps to try to protect access to the abortion procedure and medication after Roe’s demise.

“If you want to know who Trump will fight for in a second term, look who he’s talking to: anti-abortion extremists who call abortion ‘child sacrifice’ and want to ‘eradicate’ abortion ‘entirely,'” Biden said the spokeswoman from the Sarafina Chitika campaign on Monday in response to Trump’s comments.

“A second Trump term will certainly bring more extreme abortion bans with no exceptions, women punished for seeking the care they need, and doctors criminalized for providing care,” Chitika added. “Women can and will stop him by re-electing President Biden and Vice President Harris in November.”