A senior figure in conservative Christian politics has expressed concern about former President Donald Trump’s recent positions on issues including abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Albert Mohler, 64, a leader of the Southern Baptists in Kentucky, made the comments this week, warning that the candidate’s inconsistency could be his undoing.
The comments come in response to recent statements made by Trump on Truth Social, where he said his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”
In April, the 78-year-old refused to support a national abortion ban, saying it should be up to individual states. In 2020, he said he wanted to overturn federal protections for the procedure and support a near-total ban.
In an interview with The New York TimesThe president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explained why this, along with comments from Trump saying his administration would require insurers to cover IVF, could alienate loyal voters.
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Kentucky-based Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler, 64, made the comments this week, warning that the candidate’s inconsistency could be his undoing.
The comments came in response to recent statements from Trump in which he said his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights” and that either the government or insurers would cover IVF.
“Trump is in grave danger,” Mohler told host Astead W. Herndon on the newspaper’s podcast The Run-Up.
‘[He] “He’s basically challenging the pro-life movement to turn against him,” he added of the comments on Truth Social.
Referring to deviations from Trump’s two previous presidential campaigns, Mohler added: “I have no idea what Donald Trump actually believes about abortion,”
“Donald Trump is either going to win or lose this election,” the Louisville Baptist Church concluded.
“And I think a lot of it will depend on how intensely conservative and pro-life voters vote for him or not.
“And that is my warning.”
Mohler, who was the subject of a petition with more than 11,000 signatures from fellow Christians in 2020 for his “failure to condemn systemic racism and police brutality” during the George Floyd protests, then turned his attention to IVF.
The popular procedure, which is legal everywhere except Alabama, involves women retrieving eggs from their ovaries and having them fertilized with sperm in a lab. However, when the frozen embryos are thawed and prepared for transfer, they are sometimes destroyed.
They also came in response to recent comments on Truth Social by the former president, where he said his administration would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”
In April, the 78-year-old refused to support a national abortion ban after previously taking credit for overturning Roe v. Wade
This has raised concerns among some who see the destruction of human embryos as immoral. Concerns have been heightened after Trump claimed last week that either the government or private insurance companies will cover the cost of the procedures, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, with no guarantee of success.
“We, under the Trump administration, are going to pay for that treatment,” Trump told NBC News and other news outlets during the campaign on Aug. 29, during visits to Michigan and Wisconsin.
“We are going to demand that the insurance company pay.”
The statement was a swift turnaround for the man who supported the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and came shortly after Trump had faced criticism for previous policy proposals.
One of the policies that stood out was his 2017 tax plan, which many saw as pro-rich. It seemed that last month, the Republican suddenly announced that he would eliminate the tax on tips for service providers.
The aspiring president has faced similar criticism for effectively eliminating federal abortion rights, so he is now pushing to protect IVF regardless of the cost.
This, combined with Trump’s long-standing reservations about abortion, has left Mohler extremely frustrated, the pastor said Thursday.
Mohler suggested that Trump’s path to victory could be jeopardized without the support of anti-abortion voters, saying Trump’s comments reflect “disorganization” and his comments about IVF show a lack of understanding.
Mohler said Trump’s comments reflect a “disorganization” and that his comments about IVF show a lack of understanding
The pastor who was once the subject of a petition from more than 11,000 Christians over his “failure to condemn systemic racism and police brutality” during the George Floyd protests said the reversals will certainly jeopardize his campaign
“I believe that nothing less than the sanctity and dignity of human life is at stake,” Mohler said, arguing that younger evangelical voters are less enthusiastic about the Republican Party now than in past elections.
“I don’t think he understands everything that goes into it,” he added of Trump’s newfound appreciation for IVF, which he has openly criticized in his own congregation.
“I hear much, much less enthusiasm about a Donald Trump campaign,” he said, while acknowledging that the politician is still “the lesser of two evils” compared to Harris.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to back away from his support for nationwide restrictions, which could pose a hurdle for Republicans struggling to win back key groups — such as suburban women — who have drifted away from the GOP in recent years.
Yet he still wants to take credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, even though it handed abortion jurisdiction back to the states.
“The states will decide by vote or legislation or maybe both. And whatever they decide has to be the law of the land,” Trump said of abortion rights in April. “Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing.”