Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the GOP vice-presidential nominee, declined to say on Sunday whether former President Trump, if elected, would veto a federal abortion ban, saying, “I’ve learned my lesson” after answering a similar question last week.
“Kristen, I think that I’ve learned my lesson on speaking for the president before he and I have actually talked about an issue,” Vance told Kristen Welker on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” when asked whether Trump would veto a federal abortion ban.
“What he has said at the debate, which is quite explicit, is he doesn’t support a national ban,” Vance continued. “He thinks it’s ridiculous to talk about vetoing a piece of legislation that isn’t going to come before the president in the first place.”
Last week, Welker pressed Vance on the same question. Vance told her Trump has “been very clear he would not support” a federal abortion ban, and that “I think that he would” veto a bill if it came to his desk.
When asked about Vance’s remarks on the debate stage this past week, Trump seemed to distance himself from his running mate, saying, “I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness. And I don’t mind if he has a certain view, but I don’t think he was speaking for me.”
Vance, in his new interview this Sunday, said he still has not discussed the issue with the former president.
“Kristen, as you saw the president say, we hadn’t discussed it. We still haven’t discussed it, by the way, because it’s not realistic, Kristen. I think that was the point that he made during the debate. And he’s been incredibly clear that he doesn’t support a national abortion ban. He wants abortion policy to be made by the states because he thinks, look, Alabama is going to make a different decision from California, and that’s okay. We’re a big country. We can disagree,” Vance said.
Vance continued to echo the former president’s view that the prospect of a national abortion ban getting to his desk was very low, given the Senate’s close makeup.
“I think President Trump has been clear a national abortion ban is not on the table. He wouldn’t support it. He wouldn’t; he wouldn’t sign it. And I think, frankly, Kristen, it’s kind of a ridiculous hypothetical because, if a national abortion ban was brought before the United States Senate right now, it would get, at best, 10 senators out of the 100,” Vance said.
“His point is that it’s a hypothetical and not a hypothetical that has any chance of actually coming to his desk,” he added.