The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has criticized former President Donald Trump over his recent comments on abortion. The dispute started when Trump, during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” suggested a compromise approach to the abortion issue, hinting at a possible limit on the number of weeks or months for legal abortions.
In response, the DeSantis War Room account on X (formerly Twitter) accused Trump of “selling out conservatives” to gain approval from the “corporate media or the Left.” The account wrote: “Trump says he will compromise with Democrats on abortion so that they’re nice to him: ‘Both sides are going to like me.’ Then he says it’s ‘a terrible thing’ babies with heartbeats are protected in Iowa, Florida, and South Carolina. Ron DeSantis will never sell out conservatives to win praise from corporate media or the Left.”
DeSantis’s communications director, Andrew Romeo, added to the criticism, saying Trump’s compromises with the Democrats yielded “disastrous results” during his presidency. He cited over $7 trillion in new debt, an unfinished border wall, and the First Step Act, which he claimed led to the release of violent criminals back onto the streets.
Trump’s comments during the NBC interview included a critique of the six-week abortion ban signed by DeSantis in Florida earlier this year. Trump labeled this policy a “terrible mistake,” suggesting that a more reasonable limit might be found through negotiation. He also criticized the Democrats’ stance, saying they should not permit abortions at six, seven, or eight months.
The feud between DeSantis and Trump over this contentious issue reflects divisions within the Republican Party on how to approach abortion rights. While DeSantis is positioning himself as a staunch conservative unwilling to compromise, Trump appears to be adopting a more moderate stance, seeking a middle ground that might placate both sides of the debate.
