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Are pro-lifers going to allow themselves to be a cheap date? said Patrick Brown, a fellow with the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Centers Life and Family Initiative. Are they going to sit back and take it when candidates are denigrating the cause they dedicated their life to?

Trumps attempt to have it both ways on the fraught issue calling himself the most pro-life president ever and taking credit for the fall of Roe v. Wade while also shunning the priorities of the anti-abortion groups that helped elect him in 2016 has exposed those groups struggle for relevance in a lopsided primary and highlighted ongoing divisions inside the movement.

Donald Trump has called himself the most pro-life president ever while also shunning the priorities of the anti-abortion groups that helped elect him in 2016. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Some groups say they will give the frontrunner more time to clarify his position and expect he will eventually support a national abortion ban. Other groups, anxious about Trump watering down his abortion stance, are mulling various tactics, including making a primary endorsement, protesting outside his upcoming events, and redirecting their campaign budget to down ballot races.

He wont feel pressure until its applied, and were willing to apply it, said Kristi Hamrick, the chief policy strategist with Students for Life of America. You cannot ignore the human rights issue of our time and still get our vote.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America confirmed to POLITICO that it is moving ahead with plans to spend more than the $78 million it shelled out on the 2022 election cycle to turn out anti-abortion rights voters in 2024. But a leader within the organization acknowledged the posture of the GOPs runaway contender makes their work harder.

Looking at a general, hes going to need all Republicans to come home if hes going to beat Joe Biden, Billy Valentine, SBAs vice president of political affairs, said. Hes going to need the base in order to win ultimately, and hes going to need a clear position. In the absence of a clear position, the Democrats are going to define him.

Other GOP presidential candidates have aligned themselves with SBAs call for a federal ban, but the organization is boxed in by Trumps dominant lead and is unlikely to endorse, several of its leaders told POLITICO.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said he and other anti-abortion leaders have privately spoken with Trump and his campaign and are confident that he will eventually champion their calls for state and national bans.

Yet Trump handily won the Family Research Councils straw poll on Saturday even after he painted the issue as an electoral loser and rejected the groups call for federal abortion limits during a Friday speech to the groups annual conference in Washington D.C.

Politically, its very tough, he told the audience. We had midterms, and this was an issue.

Ahead of the anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the DNC launched a billboard in Times Square highlighting Donald Trump's support for a national abortion ban. | Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

His opponents for the GOP nomination, seeing an opening to pry away conservative voters, moved quickly to draw a contrast.

I dont know how you can even make the claim that youre somehow pro-life if youre criticizing states for enacting pro-life protections for babies that have heartbeats, Trump campaign rival Ron DeSantis told a radio host in the early voting state of Iowa on Monday. Its a window into how hes changing as hes running this campaign, and I think hes changing in a way that is not consistent with the values of the people in Iowa.

I think all pro-lifers should know that hes preparing to sell you out, DeSantis, the governor of Florida, added.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Vice President Mike Pence also rushed to attack Trump for refusing to back a 15-week national ban, with Pence accusing him of trying to marginalize the cause of life after his own speech to the Family Research Council.

In response to criticisms from DeSantis and others, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung touted Trumps record on abortion.

Nominating pro-life federal judges and Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade, which others have tried for over 50 years, ending taxpayer funded abortions, [reinstating] the Mexico City Policy that protects the life of the unborn abroad, and many other actions that championed the life of the unborn, Cheung said.

Several conservative movement leaders told POLITICO that while Trump remains popular, his post-White House words have forced them to question how much of an ally he would be if elected and how they can pull him back in their direction.

Trumps base is pretty solid, but this is one thing that can really shake his base unless its a pure cult of personality and not one of principle, said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council and author of Legacy of Life: Honoring 50 of the greatest pro-life leaders of the last 50 years.

Its going to be a real test for pro-lifers that support him, added Stemberger, who likes DeSantis but wants him to commit to signing a federal anti-abortion law. Its just stunning to me that hes ignoring the primary issue of social conservatives and Christians.

Many conservatives also took issue with Trumps insistence in a Sunday interview on Meet the Press that he would be able to negotiate a deal on abortion with Democrats and settle the issue once and for all.

One anti-abortion group, the Human Coalition Action, blasted him for seeking compromises on the amount of mass death we find legally acceptable, while Terry Schilling, the president of the American Principles Project, poured cold water on the idea even as he praised Trumps anti-abortion record.

Democrats are never going to let voters forget that he overturned Roe, he said. He cant pretend hes going to come out with a plan theyre going to like. They dont like him and never will.

Schilling added that many anti-abortion rights leaders are hesitant to speak up about these concerns well aware that Trump has most likely secured the nomination with or without their support.

I have friends in the movement who are keeping their powder dry because they dont want to ruin their ability to influence him, he said. When you attack someone unfairly, it just burns bridges.

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, also sees Trumps pledge to negotiate a compromise as unrealistic, at best, but acknowledges its likely to appeal to a significant number of voters.

I can see why, for people who arent involved in the pro-life movement, that sounds like a really good thing, she said. Theyre thinking, Thank God. Hes going to take away this issue that divides us. I hate the fact that when I turn on my TV, theyre saying the word abortion. I just dont want to talk about this anymore. But he just cant do it, because there are lives at stake.

Some Democrats and abortion rights activists are also worried Trumps calls for compromise and moderation could win people over. They scrambled over the past week to remind voters of Trumps staunch anti-abortion rights record during his first term.

NARAL, which this week changed its name to Reproductive Freedom For All, called Trump a skilled bluffer and said his tack to the center reveals an awareness that support for abortion rights has climbed since Roe fell and the issue has the power to decide elections.

Its clear Republicans are reading the same polls we are and know its a toxic issue for them, said Ryan Stitzlein, the groups vice president of political and government relations. The fact they havent landed on a unified strategy shows they dont know how to handle this. So you have candidates scrubbing their websites or refusing to talk about it, and you have people like Trump trying to portray themselves as a moderate.

Unsure how to bring Trump back into their fold, anti-abortion rights advocates warn that while this tack to the center might win over some voters, it will lose him the support of the ones he needs most.

Pro-lifers are not going to vote for Joe Biden, but we need to give them a reason to vote at all, Perkins said. Donald Trump has a lot of capital with conservatives, but we saw in the last election how narrow it can be. Every vote counts.

CLARIFICATION: The group that criticized Donald Trump for seeking to compromise with Democrats is the Human Coalition Action, a 501(c)4.

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Vivek Ramaswamy sat sipping his decaffeinated green tea in the center of a Capitol Hill hotels restaurant. He was extolling the awesome powers of the federal executive, which he insists would allow a President Ramaswamy to shed 75% of the federal workforce and reorganize the bureaucracy in ways that would make the most senior McKinsey bros giddy. It was obvious this wasnt the first time he was running this deck, even if no laptops, tablets, or projectors were in sight.

But, when I pushed back on his argument, making the case that if presidents are empowered to unilaterally slash and burn entire agencies, then they also can dramatically expand government just as easily, Ramaswamy didnt respond like the typical presidential candidates. Instead of simply repeating his own point or waiving away mine, the 38-year-old paused and gave the matter careful consideration.

If you're coming in from that angle, he told me, I would actually answer the question a little bit differently. Which is what he did, leaning back a little before explaining why he didnt think the executive power he hopes to wield goes in both directions.

It's different if you're actually shutting down agencies that Congress never authorized, he continued. It's a one-way ratchet.

Nuanced. Careful. Reasonable. It also may be complete hogwash that wouldnt pass muster with even the current Supreme Court. Nonetheless, the conversation cut directly against the image of Ramaswamy to this point. On the trail, in ubiquitous media appearances, and on the first debate stage, Ramaswamy often comes off as a brash bully, a privileged prig with a chip on his shoulder and wokeness in his snipers scope, a candidate who seethes with contempt for expertise or experience.

His detractors have assessed that Ramaswamy will say and do whatever is needed to please the audience before him. But that wasnt the guy sitting across from me, by now picking at a plate of spaghetti and snacking on deviled eggs. Here, it was a Socratic seminar on the promise and limits of government, the kind of dialogue that doesnt necessarily do well on a soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Ramaswamys ability to transition so seamlessly between those two aspects of his personality explains, at least in part, why he may be the most interesting and unknowable factor in the unfolding fight for the future of the GOP.

Republicans in 2016 nominated a candidate who also seemed to lack any ideological core but knew how to put on a show, a walking contradiction of a man who could win over the Christian Right and white women voters, despite being a thrice-married philanderer who bragged about sexually assaulting women.

Why wouldnt the modern GOP at least consider someone who openly advertises the same intellectual flexibility, readiness to fight, and disregard for consistency? Especially now that their first foray into nominated nihilism finds himself indicted in four separate criminal cases?

Ramaswamy, for his part, is careful here. Publicly, he is perhaps Donald Trumps most loyalif lonelydefender. From the start of his nascent run, he was careful to stand next to Trump and Trumpism, recognizing its potency. When the FBI raided Trumps Florida club, Ramaswamy had Trumps back. When the charges started to come, Ramaswamy screamed about a weaponized Department of Justice and sounded every bit like a mob boss hinting that it sure would be unfortunate if loyalty mattered for nothing.

Heck, Ramaswamy even chose the office of Trumps unofficial braintrust last week to make a major policy speech about the hows of a Ramaswamy agenda.

And there was a central contradiction of Ramaswamy. While he professes contempt for the power centers of D.C., he really wants them to at least acknowledge him, even if that takes plenty of hyperbole delivered through a smirk.

Ramaswamy is due to deliver his next big speech on Thursday in Ohio. The topic: how the U.S. can win its technology rivalry with China. A week later will come the second GOP debate, where he may once again find himself ganged up on by his rivals, who dont even try to hide how little they think of him.

Still, Ramaswamy holds a talent here. Whether or not Trump sees the 2024 race through, Ramaswamy may well be his heir apparent. Unless he wants to cash in and disappear, he isnt going anywhere any time soon.

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When Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Meet the Press that aired on Sunday, host Kristen Welker asked him, When you go to bed at night, do you worry about going to jail? Trump responded: No, I dont really. I dont even think about it. Im built a little differentlyI dont even think about it. But according to a new report, the four-times indicted ex-president has very much thought about the prospect of going to prison, and in fact, has some very specific concerns about doing time.

Rolling Stone reportsthat over the past several months, Trump has taken to asking members of his inner circle if they think hell be forced to wear one of those jumpsuits behind bars. (Whether he is worried about having to trade his business attire and golf duds for classic prison garb in general, or if it is the idea of an orange jumpsuit in particular, which would likely clash with his complexion and give rise to untold late-night jokes, that has him uneasy, is unclear.) In addition, according to the outlet, the ex-president has wondered aloud if:

- Hell be sentenced to do time in a club fed-style prison, i.e., a relatively cushy place white-collar criminals have historically been sent to, or if hell be sent to a bad prison

- If there is a chance hed get lucky and only get house arrest

- If the government would try to strip him of Secret Service protection

- What would happen if he were convicted and sentenced, but also reelected?

Meanwhile, as 2024 rival Will Hurd noted in August, Trumps decision to run again is very likely based in part on the calculation that getting reelected would be his get-out-of-jail-free card. Hes only running in order to stay out of prison, Hurd told Bloomberg Radio. (Meanwhile, in 2022, before hed officially announced his candidacy, a source familiar with Trumps thinking told Rolling Stone that the ex-president hadspoken about how when you are the president of the United States, it is tough for politically motivated prosecutors to get to you. This person added that Trump says when [not if] he is president again, a new Republican administration will put a stop to the [Justice Department] investigation that he views as the Biden administration working to hit him with criminal chargesor even put him and his people in prison.)

Trump is currently facing a whopping 91 felony counts across four criminal cases. In June, after he was charged by the Justice Department for his handling of classified documents, Fox Newslegal analystJonathan Turleyopined, All the government has to do is stick the landing on one count, and [Trump] could have a terminal sentence. Youre talking about crimes that have a 10- or 20-year period as a maximum.

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Donald Trump once again brags about his role in turning the clock back to 1974

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Ah, the travails of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. In The Times, Bret Stephens questioned how McCarthy can manage a Republican circus in which Donald Trump is the ringmaster, Matt Gaetz cracks the whip, and Marjorie Taylor Greene is in charge of the clowns. Bret also wrote that if McCarthys impeachment inquiry were any more premature, it would be a teenage boy. (Thanks to Rosemary A. Fletcher-Jones of New Milton, England, and Michael Melius of Hermosa, S.D., among many others, for singling out Brets descriptions.)

In The Washington Post, Dana Milbank added: McCarthy, whose main strength as a leader has always been his steadfast devotion to self-preservation, recognized that he was about to get trampled by the impeachment parade. So he stepped out in front of it and pretended to be the drum major. (Arlyne Willcox, Manhasset, N.Y., and Mike McNeely, Washington, D.C.)

In USA Today, Rex Huppke wondered at the fierceness of many conservatives resistance to a certain accessory and emblem of self-protection: Its nearly autumn, and that means football, pumpkin spice everything and the new liberal tradition of hanging a KN95 mask on the front door to ward off Republicans. He later jested that in addition to the front-door mask, I might sprinkle a little hand sanitizer on the welcome mat for good measure. You cant be too careful these days. (Mary Ellen Scribner, Austin, Texas)

In The Globe and Mail of Toronto, Robert Mason Lee recalled the verbal flourishes of Peter C. Newman, a journalist who recently died: Rather than block a metaphor, he would baste it in a Scheherazade of purple sauce, turning it on a spit until it emerged, plump and dripping in word fat, to be enjoyed time and again. (Lesley Barsky, Toronto)

The Economist assessed Britains official risk register of looming threats to society, which seemed an eccentric bureaucratic hobby at its inception in 2008. Since then, Russia has invaded Ukraine; A.I. has threatened to develop godlike intelligence with Old Testament consequences; and the pandemic has killed 25 million people worldwide, The Economist wrote. Toby Ord, a philosopher at Oxford, puts the odds of humanity suffering some sort of existential catastrophe within the next century at about one in six. The end, if not yet nigh, feels rather nigher than before. (Ian Proud, Lewisburg, Pa.)

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The Texas Tribune is your source for in-depth reporting on the Ken Paxton impeachment trial. Readers make that possible. Support authoritative Texas journalism with a donation now.

WASHINGTON Former President Donald Trump is claiming credit for Attorney General Ken Paxtons acquittal.

Posting on his Truth Social platform Monday, Trump claimed that his sporadic defenses on social media for his long-time ally helped sway the course of Paxtons impeachment trial.

Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from going down at the hands of Democrats and some Republicans, headed by PAUL RINO (Ryan), Karl Rove, and others, almost all of whom came back to reason when confronted with the facts, Trump said, naming checking former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Neither Republican had a formal role in the impeachment process, though Rove penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed prophesying Paxtons demise.

Paxton was impeached over allegations that he abused his office to help Austin real estate investor Nate Paul in exchange for personal favors. The Texas House voted on a bipartisan basis to impeach Paxton in May.

But Paxtons impeachment trial ended Saturday with acquittal on all 16 charges. Trump celebrated the verdict shortly after, praising Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presided over the Senate trial, and calling for the removal of Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan. Trump, who is the only twice-impeached president in U.S. history, dismissed the charges against Paxton as political persecution.

That was the former presidents only public statement about the impeachment during the Senate trial. When the House voted to impeach Paxton in May, Trump posted on his social media site denouncing the proceedings and promising to target Republicans who turned against Paxton.

Paxton and Trump have long been closely aligned on policy, with the attorney general leading a lawsuit in 2020 to challenge the results of that years election in Trumps favor. The Supreme Court swiftly threw out the lawsuit.

Paxton has also led a host of lawsuits against the Biden administration, ranging from attempting to toss the Affordable Care Act to challenging the constitutionality of a federal funding package. Trump also endorsed Paxton in his 2022 reelection primary, even as other Republicans including former U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, and former Land Commissioner George P. Bush courted the former presidents support.

Ken has been a great A.G., and now he can go back to work for the wonderful people of Texas. It was my honor to have helped correct this injustice! Trumps Monday post continued.

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