New York Times reporter and longtime Donald Trump observer Maggie Haberman suggested the former president and current GOP nominee “would welcome” the claim from his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, in her new memoir that she is in favor of abortion rights.
The Trumps “have a history of putting things in books that make a lot of news and sell those books and I think there is a world in which this is not a hidden attempt to try to soften him although I imagine that he would welcome that and it would make him happy and it was simply a way for her to get the thoughts out and get attention,” Haberman said on the Times’ “The Daily” podcast.
“But attention it is getting, it is not something that former White House advisors remember her talking about in either direction, pro or con,” Haberman continued.
“Abortion rights was not exactly a small issue when he was in office,” she noted. “He was in the middle of appointing this conservative, super majority of the Supreme Court … that repealed the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision from 1973 and she is apparently against it.”
“And her husband is still struggling mightily with how to articulate what he actually thinks on abortion, while also saying that he terminated Roe v. Wade and he’s very proud of it,” Haberman added. “So I don’t know how these two things align or how voters will receive it.”
Later, Haberman acknowledged it is “hard to imagine” that Trump “didn’t know that she was going to do it,” but she said, “I don’t think that the entire book was built around her saying this and having it come out in October” ahead of the election.
Melania Trump, in her book “Melania,” wrote, “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
Donald Trump claimed he told his wife about including her apparent stance in the book, “I’m not going to tell you what to do,” drawing backlash.
Watch Haberman’s commentary here:
Support Free Journalism
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.