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Almost half of those who oppose a national abortion ban voted for Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses, according to CNN polling.
The former president demonstrated his grip on the 2024 Republican presidential nomination with a huge win in the contest on Monday. Those who ventured out in the bitter cold delivered a roughly 30-point win for Trump. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished in a distant second place, just ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Notably, polling showed that almost half (44 percent) of those who oppose a national ban on most or all abortions, as Trump now does, voted for him, according to CNN's entrance poll results. But he also showed strength among caucusgoers who favor a national abortion ban, with 55 percent of them saying they were voting for Trump.
The backing from supporters and opponents of a national abortion ban could hamper Democrats' ability to attack Trump on the issue of abortion. However, the polling also showed that abortion wasn't the top issue for Trump voters.
A quarter of Trump voters said abortion was the most important issue for them, but many more cited immigration (64 percent) and the economy (52 percent). Almost half (46 percent) of those who said abortion was the most important issue for them backed DeSantis.
Trump has often sidestepped the issue on the campaign trail, even as he continued to claim credit for the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade after his successful nomination of three conservative justices cemented the court's shift to the right.
He has refused to endorse national bans on abortion, and has warned fellow Republicans against taking extreme positions that are unpopular with a majority of the public. He called DeSantis' signing of a six-week ban on abortion a "terrible mistake" last year.
Asked to clarify his position on abortion restrictions at a town hall in Iowa last week, Trump said that Republicans who committed to extreme bans have been "decimated" in elections.
He said he was in support of exceptions to bans in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. "You have to win elections," he said. "Otherwise you're going to be back where you were, and you can't let that ever happen again. You've got to win elections."
Trump's refusal to endorse a national ban has attracted criticism from rivals and anti-abortion groups.
In April last year, a major anti-abortion group said Trump's comments that abortion restrictions should be left up to states, not the federal government, were a "morally indefensible position for a self-proclaimed pro-life presidential candidate."
In a statement, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the group would "oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace at a minimum a 15-week national standard to stop painful late-term abortions while allowing states to enact further protections."
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more