A whirlwind 24 hours for Trump on abortion: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker breaks down how reproductive rights remain a thorny issue for the Donald Trump and the GOP. Plus, Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor examines how Kamala Harris is preparing for her first debate with Trump.

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Reproductive rights remain a political land mine for Trump

By Kristen Welker

The past 24 hours have underscored how the abortion issue remains a major political land mine for Donald Trump and the GOP heading into the final stretch of the election.

It started on Thursday — the same day Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for her first major interview as the Democratic presidential nominee — when Trump told NBC News’ Dasha Burns that Florida’s six-week abortion ban was “too short” and that he would “be voting that we need more than six weeks” when asked about a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in his home state of Florida. His campaign clarified that evening that he had not yet taken a position on the proposed constitutional amendment.

And perhaps more significantly, on Thursday Trump also told Burns that he supported not only protecting access to in vitro fertilization, but also having the federal government or insurance companies pay for those costs. 

Then, on Friday afternoon, after receiving swift backlash from the right, he came out against Florida’s abortion-rights ballot measure.

“So I think six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. I’ve disagreed with that right from the early primaries when I heard about it, I disagreed with it,” Trump said in comments to Fox News. “At the same time, the Democrats are radical, because the nine months is just a ridiculous situation where you can do an abortion in the ninth month. … So I’ll be voting no for that reason.”

Florida’s amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, while ensuring exceptions to protect the health of the mother.

Trump’s statements on both abortion and IVF show how thorny the issues are for the Republican nominee — even when he appears to be staking out a position that’s more popular with the general electorate, according to the polls. 

From one political side, there were anti-abortion conservatives, like Erick Erickson, who jeered Trump’s initial comments, warning they could cost him support from a critical slice of the GOP base. On the other, Harris’ campaign and Democrats continued to hammer Trump for his role in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which left the abortion issue to the states. 

And then there’s the financial aspect of Trump’s plans. With the price tag for IVF treatments at approximately $20,000 each, having the government cover the cost would amount to billions in taxpayer dollars. 

The reversal of Roe has hurt the Republicans and energized Democrats — just look at the 2022 midterms and the results from recent statewide ballot measures. 

But Trump’s last 24 hours revealed how the abortion and IVF debate continue to be problematic for Republicans, even for a presidential candidate trying his best to sidestep the issues.

How Harris is preparing for her first Trump debate

By Yamiche Alcindor

Kamala Harris has been preparing for the debate stage for months. Only, instead of facing off against the GOP’s VP nominee as originally expected, she’s now set for her first showdown with Donald Trump in less than two weeks.  

Here’s a look at how Harris is getting ready for the debate, according to four sources familiar with the Democratic nominee’s preparations.

Getting under Trump’s skin: A source told NBC News that while Harris’ team is preparing to talk about a variety of topics, the campaign very much views the optics of the debate as critically important. To that end, the source said, Harris and her team are focusing on homing in on how to needle Trump to rattle him. 

In that sense, the source said, it’s going to be less about substance and more about showcasing Harris as a woman who isn’t scared and isn’t going to cower and who is standing up to Trump and holding him accountable. 

Tension over how to differentiate from Biden: Drawing a distinction between Harris and Biden is a source of tension, as some on Harris’ team are taking the approach that she may have to respectfully but forcefully lay blame for some problems, like the Afghanistan withdrawal, squarely at Biden’s feet. 

One source said the 2021 withdrawal is seen as an “obvious vulnerability” that Harris is preparing how to tackle.

Avoiding a Tulsi Gabbard moment: Harris and her team are most focused on avoiding a moment from a Democratic presidential primary debate in July 2019, when Tulsi Gabbard, then a House member from Hawaii, launched a lengthy attack on Harris’ prosecutorial record. 

Gabbard (who recently endorsed Trump’s 2024 bid) accused Harris of having jailed more than 1,500 people for marijuana violations when she was a prosecutor in California, adding that she “laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” a jab that elicited applause from the audience.

Harris and her team were unprepared for the attack and are working to ensure she can quickly pivot in the face of a similar approach by Trump.

Read more from Yamiche on Harris’ debate prep →

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

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