Posted on 08/13/2015 6:48:14 AM PDT by Din Maker
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump defended Planned Parenthood during an interview Tuesday night, doubling down on his remarks that part of the group should be funded.
“They do good things,” Trump said during an interview with Sean Hannity that aired on Fox News.
“There's two Planned Parenthoods, in a way. You have it as an abortion clinic. Now that's actually a fairly small part of what they do, but it’s a brutal part and I'm totally against it,” Trump said. “They also, however, service women,” Trump said, adding later, “We have to help women. A lot of women are helped. So we have to look at the positives for Planned Parenthood.”
Trump's comments immediately drew fire from anti-abortion-rights advocates, who say that abortion represents a larger portion of what the organization does and that it should be entirely defunded.
The Susan B. Anthony List blasted the billionaire businessman, saying he should have stuck with his remark earlier on Tuesday describing Planned Parenthood as “an abortion factory.”
“Donald Trump completely misleads Americans by repeating tired Planned Parenthood talking points,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group's president, said in a statement Wednesday.
Dannenfelser cited Planned Parenthood's annual reports to say that its “abortions are on the rise,” to nearly a million in the past three years, while “non-abortion services have dropped significantly.”
The prominent anti-abortion-rights group initially withheld most of its fire from Trump on Tuesday when he drew heat for saying parts of Planned Parenthood should be funded — a week after saying he supported shutting down the government in order to defund the group in the wake of several undercover videos.
A sixth video from an anti-abortion-rights group, the Center for Medical Progress, was released early Wednesday.
For its part, Planned Parenthood praised Trump's remarks earlier Tuesday when on the question of funding he said on CNN that he would look at other “good aspects” of Planned Parenthood.
“Donald Trump seems to have realized that banning all abortions, shutting down the government, and defunding Planned Parenthood are extreme positions that are way too far outside the mainstream for even him to take,” Eric Ferrero, vice president for communications, said in a statement shared with The Hill.
“We hope that the rest of the GOP field will wake up and reconsider their extreme and unpopular positions on defunding preventive care, abortion bans, and the other economic issues that women and their families care about,” he added.
Trump pivoted during the Fox interview to hit Jeb Bush, another Republican presidential candidate, over a recent remark on funding for women's health. Trump has battled in recent days accusations of sexism over remarks regarding Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
“If Mr. Trump is truly concerned about women’s health, he should support immediate defunding of Planned Parenthood and the reallocation of those funds to organizations better suited to women’s health care needs,” Dannenfelser said Wednesday.
Mr. Trump, wake up and smell the putrid coffee.
If Planned Parenthood does anything good for ANYBODY (which, personally, I highly doubt) it is merely window dressing to cover for the other 95% of horridly gut-turning wretched evil things they do.
They don’t do anything good for anybody that is not being far more effectively done by others.
How can conservatives ignore the fact that Trump is saying he’s all for government spending our money on something that’s not authorized by the constitution?
While I appreciate what Trump has done to allow the outing of the establishment it is evident he is no conservative. I predict he will make more of these gaffs because his heart is just not that of a conservative. He really , truly believes that Planned Parenthood is about women’s health!!!
Interesting and respectful point, but I honestly think you are missing a huge piece of the puzzle....which is that the man simply does not have conservative instincts. He’s VERY very effective on a few conservative issues, but given a 100 issues, he’ll come down reflexively on the liberal side 50% of the time.
This is his reflex. Will he change it? Maybe. But this IS HIS REFLEX.
Because to my knowledge, Trump hasn't mentioned anything about limited government or the Constitution. Forget what his ghost writer or researcher wrote in 2011- I haven't heard either phrase mentioned by Trump - not once - this cycle. Now, if someone can point me to something, I'll be happy to learn.
If there’s sufficient evidence of PP breaking the law, they should be investigated and prosecuted.
Otherwise, this isn’t likely a winning issue for the GOP.
Very poor response Mr. Trump.
I read the same as you when going through the statements. Donald takes their talking points and uses them to open PP to further scrutiny to determine the actual amount of “women’s health” that is being funded. People can still go to jail.
I’m starting to think we might be lucky. He’s self-identified as a conservative Republican, not a liberal Democrat. He could have come down on the other side. Then we’d really be screwed. Maybe we need to start thinking about embracing his populism? I’m morphing toward Cruz as his VP choice, which I think is possible. Otherwise, I don’t see anyone on the Pub side gaining traction against the Dim nominee. Hard to imagine.
Trump has always surrounded himself with VERY SMART young people who are fighters!!!! Cruz fits that to a tee, I am PRAYING Cruz is on Trumps ticket!!!! I believe he will be just a gut feeling but Trump KNOWS the best talent and that IS Cruz!!!!
The wonderful thing about Trump is if you don't like his position on an issue today, don't worry. He will change it in a few days/years.....
Compare his conservative “instincts “to those of the Bush dynasty
A very basic instruct Trump has is that hard work is a path to success
Not one of the Bushes has ever had to build or rebuild a business, make a payroll for thousands
Ditto with Cruz Walker Carson or iCarly...
Trump does not apologize for his success and believes in universal opportunity
Plus Trump is an unabashed nationalist who puts our interests on par or above any on the globe
I think Trump has the instincts to build a winning administration and to give them a chance to succeed
I think if we get any of our values back, respect for capitalism and what it can produce, and pride in country , top the list..... and the social values will follow
We must agree to disagree on which candidate is the best
Like many men if his generation, with wives and daughters, he sometimes comes across as paternalistic
Until women get in his boardroom
Or attack him personally
And on Hannity last night, Trump said he opposes the flat tax and thinks the rich should pay more.
Just another northeastern “conservative” like Romney.
It is as inaccurate to engage in that generalization as it is to generalize the Tea Party
And there are differences in this forum between defending Trump, analyzing Trump, having opinions on Trump, being a Trump “supporter” , and having decided to vote for Trump 18 months from now
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