On Monday, former President Trump blamed abortion for the Republican Party’s midterm election defeats, an argument supported by Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter. Trump put the responsibility on a small group of Republican candidates who voted against abortion exceptions protecting mothers’ lives, rape, and incest.
The assertion was made in a Truth Social post in which the former president responded to criticism that he had destroyed the Republican Party’s hopes of achieving a “red wave” in the general election by backing unqualified candidates in the party’s primary elections. Several high-profile elections that were largely seen as winnable were lost by Trump’s candidates, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Georgia Senate contender Herschel Walker.
According to Trump, it wasn’t his fault that the Republicans didn’t meet expectations of the “Red Wave” in the midterms. Trump said on Sunday that he was “233-20!” Trump boasted about the victorious track record of the politicians he had backed. According to The New York Times analysis of the midterm elections, Trump’s chosen candidates fared five points worse than other Republicans in House contests.
Trump said Republican voters who opposed abortion for decades “got their wish” from the Supreme Court in overturning Roe v. Wade and “just plain disappeared.”
Many Republicans’ handling of the abortion issue was to blame for their party’s loss of support, Trump said. It was the ‘abortion issue,’ which he said was poorly handled by many Republicans. Trump said Republican voters who opposed abortion for decades and fought so hard for many years “got their wish” from the Supreme Court in overturning Roe v. Wade and “just plain disappeared.” They vanished without a trace after getting their way from the United States Supreme Court. “Plus, Mitch stupid $’s!”
Trump also blamed Mitch McConnell for a super PAC he is affiliated with pulling money from key Senate races like New Hampshire and Arizona for candidates that he had endorsed. In these races, Republican candidates trailed by wider margins than in other important contests, according to polls at the time.
On Monday, Musk responded to Trump’s comment with a tweet that seemed to concur with Trump’s premise.
Using the abbreviation for, to be honest, Musk added, “Mostly accurate tbh.”
A small number of red states have banned or severely restricted abortions before the midterms, except for life-or-death situations for the woman. Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt passed legislation to outlaw almost all abortions, including those resulting from rape and incest, before the Supreme Court judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24. Reacting to the judgment, other states, including Texas and Tennessee, moved to impose trigger restrictions that had already been in place before Dobbs.
Several polls have found that most Americans favor legalizing abortion up to the end of the first trimester but that their opinions change dramatically after that. For instance, only 28% of Americans backed abortions in the second trimester in a Gallup poll conducted in 2018. Gallup interviewed 1,024 individuals from May 1-10, 2018, with a margin of error of 4%.