- Pre-taped town hall on MSNBC found Chris Matthews needling Trump on his opposition to abortion and what outlawing the practice would mean
- 'Should abortion be punished? This is not something you can dodge,' Matthews asked
- Ultimately Trump agreed that outlawing abortion means 'there has to be some form of punishment' specifically talking about women
- But he walked back his remarks a few hours later, saying outlawing abortion would subject doctors, not patients, to prosecution
- 'My position has not changed,' Trump said in a statement even though it had made a 180-degree turn
Donald Trump quickly walked back comments on Wednesday afternoon in which he had said he favored 'some form of punishment' for American women who terminate their pregnancies through abortion.
The billionaire Republican front-runner made that declaration during a noontime town hall TV taping in Wisconsin. Less than four hours later, however, he insisted that he would only hope to see abortion-clinic doctors and other medical personnel prosecuted.
'If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,' Trump said in a statement to the press.
'The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed.'
But hours earlier, when MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews asked him if he would advocate for legal penalties 'for the woman' who chooses an abortion, Trump had answered: 'Yes.'
That comment came during a pre-taped town hall broadcast that wasn't scheduled to air until hours after Trump's about-face nullified it.

GOLD MEDAL IN THE 1,000 METER WALK-BACK: Donald Trump abandoned a position on criminalizing abortion less than four hours after articulating it

JAIL 'EM: Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, said Wednesday that abortion should be outlawed and legal punishments established for women who terminate their pregnancies
In the intervening hours, while he steered clear of the issue during a campaign appearance in the town of Appleton, Trump's campaign released a statement saying the abortion issue 'is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination.'
Framing abortion as an issue ripe for a return to state-based jurisdiction is political code for overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark supreme Court decision that forbade states from outlawing the artificial termination of pregnancies.
The move initially signaled that Trump was making a serious bid to undercut Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has cornered the voting market on much of the nation's social conservative base.
A Marquette University poll released Wednesday afternoon shows Trump trailing Cruz by 10 points in the Badger State, which will hold its primary election next Tuesday.
Cruz hadn't yet issued a statement about Trump's abortion position when he walked it back. he had his chance in the resulting chaos.
'Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn't seriously thought through the issues, and he'll say anything just to get attention,' the tea party firebrand said.
'On the important issue of the sanctity of life, what's far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child; it's also about the mother and creating a culture that respects her and embraces life.'
'Of course we shouldn't be talking about punishing women,' Cruz said. '[W]e should affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world.'
In the rubble of a quickly abandoned policy position executing a 180-degree turn on it before it airs on national television the net effect was rank confusion.
'I can't speculate about what he was thinking,' Trump spokeswoman Tana Goertz told CNN form the Appleton ballroom where Trump had just wrapped up his remarks.
She speculated that her boss may have meant women who choose abortions should undergo some form of 'social punishment' or 'mental anguish,' not a judicial punishment.
But the ground where Trump landed prosecuting abortionists and comforting women matches that of the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, whose president had presaged Trump's turnaround an hour earlier.
Abortion, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, is a form of exploitation of women, not something for which they should be held responsible.
'We have never advocated, in any context, for the punishment of women who undergo abortion,' Dannenfelser said.
'Punishment is solely for the abortionist who profits off of the destruction of one life and the grave wounding of another.'

MAKE IT ILLEGAL: The anti-abortion movement may have a new champion to lead its 40-year-old war to reverse the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision but will they embrace him or run away?

KEEP CLINICS OPEN: Abortion right activists will be motivated anew by the threat of a Trump presidency
Matthews had cornered the billionaire on the third-rail political issue during the noontime taping in Green Bay.
'Should abortion be punished? This is not something you can dodge,' Matthews asked.
'If you say "Abortion is a crime" or "abortion is murder," you have to deal with it under the law. Should abortion be punished?'
Trump replied that 'people in certain parts of the Republican Party, and conservative Republicans, would say, "Yes, they should be punished".'
Asked for his personal view, Trump called abortion 'a very serious problem, and it's a problem we have to decide on. It's very hard.'
'But youre for banning it,' Matthews interjected.
Trump engaged him: 'Are you going to say well wait, are you going to say put them in jail? Is that the punishment youre talking about?'
'No, Im asking you because you say you want to ban it. What does that mean?' Matthews pressed.
Trump ultimately said 'there has to be some form of punishment,' for women who have abortions if the practice were to be outlawed.
'For the woman?' Matthews asked.
'Yes,' Trump answered, nodding, saying the penalty would 'have to be determined.'
'I dont know. That I dont know,' he said.
'Well why not?' Matthews insisted. 'You take positions on everything else!'
'I do take positions on everything else but this is a very complicated position,' the candidate said.

CORNERED: Trump turned the abortion questions back on Chris Matthews (right), asking him how his pro-choice beliefs fell in line with those of the Roman Catholic Church, of which he's a member
Trump has broadly proclaimed his pro-life position during the presidential campaign, after years of toeing a pro-choice line.
Matthews asked him how he would go about banning abortions.
'You go back to a position like they had,' he replied, 'where they would perhaps go to illegal places, but we have to ban it.'
Matthews, an NBC News legend and a Roman Catholic, found himself on defense when Trump needled him about his Christian denomination's teachings.
The Catholic Church staunchly opposes abortion, but does not call for civilian penalties for woman who stray.
Matthews responded that he accepts 'the teaching authority of my church on moral issues' and 'I concur with their moral position.'
'But legally I want to get to the question,' he shifted, drawing a chuckle from Trump.
'Its not funny,' Matthews said, according to an MSNBC transcript.
'Its really not funny,' Trump countered. 'What do you say about your church? Theyre very, very strict.'
'The church make their moral judgments, but youre running for President of the United States,' the host countered.


OUTRAGE: Trump's Democratic opponents opened up a can of fury online after news of his comments spread
The billionaire real estate guru's political line in the abortion sand could jeopardize his already-tenuous standing with Republican women.
And Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton pounced on the story, tweeting her disgust in a message signed with 'H,' meaning that she wrote it personally.
'Just when you thought it couldn't get worse,' Clinton tweeted. 'Horrific and telling.'
Her rival Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist Vermont senator, tweeted: 'Your Republican frontrunner, ladies and gentlemen. Shameful.'
Trump framed the decades-long U.S. abortion fight on Wednesday as a crucial matter for voters to decide through the ballot box, since the next president will determine the political balance of the U.S. Supreme Court.
'They've set the law and, frankly, the judges,' he said.
'You're going to have a very big election coming up for that reason because you have judges where its a real tipping point and with the loss of Scalia, who was a very strong conservative, this presidential election is going to be very important,' he said.
'When you say "What's the law?" nobody knows what the law is going to be. It depends on who gets elected.'
Trump announced his conservative transformation on abortion rights last August, saying that Planned Parenthood, the nation's most active abortion clinic organization, should be de-funded at the federal government level.
'The problem that I have with Planned Parenthood is the abortion situation,' he said then. 'It is like an abortion factory, frankly.'


THREATENED: Planned Parenthood America's largest abortion provider and its president both lashed out at Trump on Twitter
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards tweeted in the afternoon that Trump 'is vocalizing the motivations of every politician who votes to restrict access to abortion. It's about controlling women.'
'This is a man who genuinely does not care about the health & safety of women - only about his political ambitions,' she wrote.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich spoke to MSNBC's Chuck Todd after Trump made his remarks.
'Of course, women shouldn't be punished' for having abortions,' Kasich said.
'I think probably Donald Trump will figure out a way to say that he didnt say it, or he was misquoted or whatever, but I dont think so,' Kasich added.
'I dont think thats an appropriate response and its a difficult enough situation then to try to punish somebody.'
Further to the political left, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement that Trump's 'vileness and contempt for women knows no bounds,' and that the GOP leader would deny women 'the right to make their own decisions about their health care.'
On the other side of the political spectrum, Trump lost the support of the March For Life Education and Defense Fund, which organizes an annual march and lobbying events in Washington, D.C.
'Mr. Trumps comment today is completely out of touch with the pro-life movement and even more with women who have chosen such a sad thing as abortion,' said Jeanne Mancini, the group's president.
'Being pro-life means wanting what is best for the mother and the baby. Women who choose abortion often do so in desperation and then deeply regret such a decision. No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion.'
'This is against the very nature of what we are about,' she said. 'We invite a woman who has gone down this route to consider paths to healing, not punishment.'

#29: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#26)
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 09:52:23 Reply Private Reply
#30: BobCeleste To: nolu chan (#15)
BobCeleste posted on 2016-03-31 09:59:12 Reply Private Reply
#31: Tooconservative To: BobCeleste (#30)
Not precisely.
Ron Paul always insisted that if you inserted a clause in a law that the law itself was beyond the scope of Supreme Court review, that the Court would have no basis to try to alter or overrule it as that alone would provoke a constitutional crisis greater than Marbury vs. Madison. He didn't believe any modern Court would take that risk.
It was never put to the test unfortunately.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 10:40:58 Reply Private Reply
#32: SOSO To: Vicomte13 (#23)
Well then, I never changed my faith in God either. That must make me a double secret Nazi at heart. You are now officially a moron.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 11:03:11 Reply Private Reply
#33: Vicomte13 To: SOSO (#32)
No. You're just an unthinking person who hates people because he thinks he's smarter than everybody else. And yet, for all of that superior intelligence, your position in life has turned out to be surprisingly mediocre.
Vicomte13 posted on 2016-03-31 11:18:55 Reply Private Reply
#34: SOSO To: TooConservative (#25)
Hey, piss off. I like Churchill. He's not a witch.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 11:24:25 Reply Private Reply
#35: SOSO To: Vicomte13 (#33)
I can live with both, thank you, especially since my mediocre life includes a solid marriage of almost 50 years now, a great kid, great grandchildren and a mediocre amount of creature comforts.
But unlike you I constantly challenge my positions and beliefs and when the evidence requires I change. Surprisingly many of my moral beliefs haven't changed since I was a teenager as the evidence over the decades only acted to confirm them.
I am sorry that it took you so long in life to find out what you really believe in. Perhaps that is why you like Trump, he has no fixed moral center either.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 11:29:58 Reply Private Reply
#36: SOSO To: misterwhite (#28)
No doubt. But that doesn't give Lewandowski and Trump a pass to claim that Lewandowski never touched her. The evidence is quite clear, HE DID.
I am not a lawyer but the video appears to be quite flimsy evidence of battery. However if Lewandowski does in fact face a jury of his peers he just may be convicted if for nothing more than being associated with Trump.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 11:33:29 Reply Private Reply
#37: SOSO To: misterwhite (#27)
No, she lied as well. Piss on all three of them.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 11:34:50 Reply Private Reply
#38: Tooconservative To: SOSO (#37)
I think the FL battery case is unlikely to go anywhere. The prosecutor may just drop it.
And what's the most that would happen? Corey might get six months probation at worst.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 11:40:29 Reply Private Reply
#39: misterwhite To: SOSO (#37)
If she lied and Lewandowski said he didn't do what she said he did, isn't Lewandowski telling the truth?
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 12:01:07 Reply Private Reply
#40: SOSO To: TooConservative (#38)
He may get off with the Slickster treatment but he is not the Slickster and his life would be negatively impacted by a conviction. I don't think that even a con man like Trump would hire someone in a visibly high capacity that was convicted of battery.
As for it going to trial, it all depends on who the prosecutor is, and his/her boss. We all know that Hillary will never get to trial for the same reason that Lewandowski might.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 12:06:06 Reply Private Reply
#41: misterwhite To: TooConservative (#38)
The question is, can Lewandowski, using reasonable force, keep reporters away from the candidate? Not "should". "Can".
If Lewandowski's attorney can get a written statement from the Secret Service saying they warned her twice to back up, I can't see any prosecutor thinking he can get a jury to vote unanimously for a conviction.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 12:08:31 Reply Private Reply
#42: SOSO To: misterwhite (#39)
I don't understand your question. She lied about nearly being pulled to the ground. She probably lied about the source of the bruise on her arm. But she hasn't been legally charged with anything and never will be. She quit her job. I don't know if that makes her a hot commodity in the liberal world of the MSM. Perhaps she'll do a shoot for GQ.
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 12:09:20 Reply Private Reply
#43: SOSO To: misterwhite. TooConservative (#41)
why did Lewandowski and Trump lie about Lewandowski never touching her, especially if they believed that it was justified for security reasons?
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 12:11:57 Reply Private Reply
#44: Tooconservative To: misterwhite, Deckard (#41)
No. That is the job of the SS and the lawfully present police and/or deputies.
Lewandowski is a former state trooper turned campaign manager. So you can see why he feels entitled to manhandle whoever he pleases.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 12:12:27 Reply Private Reply
#45: Roscoe To: TooConservative (#44)
Source not available on request.
Roscoe posted on 2016-03-31 12:25:28 Reply Private Reply
#46: misterwhite To: TooConservative (#44)
I took special care with my wording. I asked "can". You answered the question, "Should Lewandowski, using reasonable force, keep reporters away from the candidate?"
So, can he?
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 13:07:23 Reply Private Reply
#47: Fred Mertz To: misterwhite (#46)
We used to call this type of stuff - pole vaulting mouse turds.
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-03-31 13:13:26 Reply Private Reply
#48: misterwhite To: SOSO (#42)
She lied when she said she was pulled down. When Lewandowski was asked about it (pulling her down) he responded "I never touched her" -- meaning "I never pulled anyone down". So in that sense he wasn't lying.
Now, had she told the truth and said, "Lewandowski pulled my arm away from Trump and cut me off", then Lewandowski would have lied if he said he never touched her.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 13:23:39 Reply Private Reply
#49: misterwhite To: Fred Mertz (#47)
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 13:27:26 Reply Private Reply
#50: Fred Mertz To: misterwhite (#49)
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-03-31 13:33:15 Reply Private Reply
#51: SOSO To: misterwhite (#48)
My God, your rationalization makes the Slickster and Obama green with envy. FYI he also said he never met her, as in encountered. That also was a lie.
But you might be able to reddem yourself if you post the exact question put to Lewandowksi to which he amswered "I never touched her."
SOSO posted on 2016-03-31 13:56:12 Reply Private Reply
#52: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#1)
Nothing "confusing" there.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 13:59:35 Reply Private Reply
#53: Tooconservative To: ConservingFreedom (#52)
He'll vacuously repeat phrases with the words "confusing" and "hypothetical" until his ADD kicks in.
It's pathetic really. I'm not sure he's even managed to convince himself.
There was nothing "confusing" or "hypothetical" about it. And Chrissy Matthews is even dumber than Trump.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 14:05:56 Reply Private Reply
#54: A K A Stone To: TooConservative (#29)
I've never read it. Because it has been a shit publication for decades. Telling that you used to read them.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-31 14:25:04 Reply Private Reply
#55: Fred Mertz To: A K A Stone (#54)
You've never read it, yet you have it all figured out as a crappy publication.
Does Pills Limpbaugh tell you what to think?
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-03-31 14:28:13 Reply Private Reply
#56: A K A Stone To: Fred Mertz (#55)
I see the national review people on TV all the time. They are always idiots who support globalism and love NAFTA GATT etc.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-31 14:30:27 Reply Private Reply
#57: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#52)
Chris Matthews' premise was, "Abortion is against the law." Did Matthews mean, "It is illegal to perform an abortion" or "It is illegal to have an abortion"? Or both?
Confused yet?
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 14:48:04 Reply Private Reply
#58: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#57)
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 15:02:21 Reply Private Reply
#59: Tooconservative To: misterwhite (#57)
If that is your premise, then Trump clearly answered it as being illegal to have an abortion. But there was no reason for anyone to think that. No one has ever proposed such laws.
For instance, after the partial-birth abortion ban, it was not illegal to have a partial-birth abortion. It was illegal for a doctor to perform a partial-birth abortion.
Of course, back then, Trump was a full-blown abortion advocate, including praising his very pro-abortion sister (a federal judge he thinks should be on the Court) and writing publicly that he favored partial-birth abortion. In case you don't know, that's where they deliver the baby's body halfway so they can stab it in the back of the brain with surgical scissors. But Trump was a big fan of this procedure at the time and went on record on the issue.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-31 15:02:33 Reply Private Reply
#60: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#58)
The part where it was taken out of context. So I put it in context.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 15:26:44 Reply Private Reply
#61: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#60)
The Donald was so "confused" by the "context" that he couldn't answer a simple question? Doesn't say much for his qualifications as leader of the free world.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 15:29:28 Reply Private Reply
#62: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#61)
But you're not confused because you're smart. So answer my post #57. Second request.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 15:32:23 Reply Private Reply
#63: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#57)
No.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 15:54:22 Reply Private Reply
#64: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#57)
I am not confused about my answer to "Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle, for the woman?" being "No" regardless of any premises that may have been aired earlier in the conversation.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 15:57:57 Reply Private Reply
#65: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#64)
If you keep avoiding the question, you give me a very good reason not to post to you.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 16:42:57 Reply Private Reply
#66: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#65)
It's the first time you've asked that question. My answers are yes and yes. And I'm still not confused, unlike you and your Fearless Leader.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 16:45:26 Reply Private Reply
#67: Roscoe To: misterwhite (#57)
Roscoe posted on 2016-03-31 16:51:57 Reply Private Reply
#68: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#66)
I asked you the question in post #57.
"My answers are yes and yes."
So you agree with Trump's initial response?
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 16:53:43 Reply Private Reply
#69: misterwhite To: Roscoe (#67)
That reminds me. I need to treat my lawn this Spring before it gets too warm.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 16:55:21 Reply Private Reply
#70: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#68)
False.
#65: 'If the law stated that it was illegal for a woman to have an abortion, and the woman had an abortion, didn't she violate the law? Shouldn't she be punished for violating the law?'
#57: 'Chris Matthews' premise was, "Abortion is against the law." Did Matthews mean, "It is illegal to perform an abortion" or "It is illegal to have an abortion"? Or both?'
Trump wasn't asked any of the questions you've asked. He was asked, "Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle, for the woman?" His answer was "Yes"; as I've already posted (#64) my answer is "No".
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 17:01:14 Reply Private Reply
#71: Roscoe To: ConservingFreedom (#70)
You're dizzy.
Roscoe posted on 2016-03-31 17:05:32 Reply Private Reply
#72: Roscoe To: misterwhite (#69)
You've always been one of those lawn order kinda guys.
Roscoe posted on 2016-03-31 17:06:46 Reply Private Reply
#73: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#70)
That's my point. If there is "punishment for abortion" that means abortion is against the law, right? And if Matthews is asking Trump if the woman should be punished, why would he ask that unless it was against the law for the woman to have an abortion?
(You can't punish anyone unless they're violating the law, right?)
So Trump assumed Matthews was asking if Trump would enforce the law. Trump said he would. So did you.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 17:10:11 Reply Private Reply
#74: misterwhite To: Roscoe (#72)
Funny guy.
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 17:11:02 Reply Private Reply
#75: ConservingFreedom To: Roscoe (#71)
Trying to fool LFers with your clumsy lies-by-omission ... for shame.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 17:45:48 Reply Private Reply
#76: ConservingFreedom To: misterwhite (#73)
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-03-31 17:49:04 Reply Private Reply
#77: Roscoe To: ConservingFreedom (#75)
Poor you.
Roscoe posted on 2016-03-31 18:13:34 Reply Private Reply
#78: misterwhite To: ConservingFreedom (#76)
So, yes. The question does assume there is punishment. Trump was asked if the punishment should be applied (to the woman). If she broke the law, what's he supposed to say? No?
If Matthews was interested in learning Trump's position (rather than trying to play gotcha games) he would have asked, "If abortion is made illegal, do you believe the law should target the women?"
misterwhite posted on 2016-03-31 18:24:15 Reply Private Reply