Michigan Governor Whitmer calls Trump’s abortion position ‘nonsense’ and insists you ‘can’t trust him’ after telling TIME states they could ‘monitor pregnancies’

Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has blasted Donald Trump over abortion rights ahead of his visit to her state, calling his position “nonsense” as he tries to tackle the controversial issue looming in the 2019 election. 2024 has become a political landmine to navigate.

The Republican presidential candidate is on his way to the battleground for a rally on Wednesday.

It’s his first campaign rally since the hush money lawsuit began in New York nearly three weeks ago and comes after he told TIME Magazine in an interview that he would let red states monitor pregnancies, saying, “I think they could do that.” ‘

In that same interview, Trump refused to veto federal restrictions on abortion if they came to his desk, saying it was “irrelevant” whether he felt comfortable with states prosecuting women who have abortions “because the states make those decisions to take. ‘

“You can’t trust what Donald Trump says when it comes to abortion rights. “He and all three of his appointees to the Supreme Court of the United States have lied to Congress and to the American people,” Whitmer told reporters on Wednesday.

“They overturned Roe v Wade and that’s exactly why we have chaos all over the country with different rights for different people,” she said.

Whitmer was joined at the event organized by the Biden campaign by a doctor, lawyers, a veteran and students

In a cover interview with TIME, Trump said he would let Red states “monitor” pregnancies and declined to veto a bill restricting abortion if it reaches his desk if he is re-elected.

Abortion has proven to be a motivating issue for voters to vote for Democrats in recent elections, including in Michigan.

Exit polls in the battleground state for the 2022 midterm showed this was the most important issue in the election. Michigan voters re-elected Whitmer that year and enshrined the right to abortion in their state constitution.

Whitmer was in Flint, MI ahead of Trump’s visit for a roundtable on reproductive rights put on by Biden’s reelection campaign, which Whitmer co-chairs.

At the same time, Florida’s six-week abortion ban went into effect on Wednesday. Democrats across the country have spoken out about abortion, including Vice President Kamala Harris traveling to Jacksonville, Florida.

In his TIME interview, Trump said there would “never be that chance” that he would veto a federal abortion restrictions bill that would land on his desk because it would require 60 votes in the Senate to pass.

‘You will never get sixty votes. You won’t have that for many, many years, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican,” Trump said, sidestepping the question.

“No one should take any comfort in the fact that they want an abortion ban but they won’t get it because they don’t think we’ll have 60 votes in the Senate. Nonsense!’ Whitmer responded. “Nobody thought we’d be here at this time.”

She warned that access to abortion is “very seriously at risk,” even in states like Michigan, which passed an abortion rights law along with the ballot initiative during last year’s midterm elections.

Trump at a rally in Schnecksville, PA on April 13. His visit to Michigan on Wednesday will be his first campaign rally since his hush money trial began

Trump had tried in recent weeks to defuse the issue for Republicans ahead of the November election.

He announced earlier this month that he wants to leave the issue to the states.

That same week, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape and incest, could be enforced in the state.

The ex-president has also faced criticism from anti-abortion rights groups and some Republican lawmakers who have pressured the Republican nominee to support federal restrictions.

At his most recent rally in Pennsylvania, before the hush money trial began, Trump notably made no mention of overturning Roe v Wade, something he has previously touted at numerous campaign events.

Democrats have put Republicans on the defensive across the country over abortion before November.

Trump fears voters will hold him accountable for the brutality and chaos he has caused. He is right. Trump has taken away the rights and freedom of women in America,” President Biden said in a statement about Florida’s six-week ban that went into effect on Wednesday.

Trump once called Florida’s law a “mistake.” But anti-abortion advocates on Wednesday praised Florida’s six-week ban.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, called it a “huge victory for women and children that will protect 50,000 lives a year starting today.”

Pro-abortion rights advocates are protesting Florida’s six-week abortion ban, which takes effect Wednesday. Advocates collected enough signatures for a measure on abortion rights during the state’s November ballot

In Michigan, Whitmer called on Republican and independent voters who support abortion access in the battleground state during the midterm elections to join her again this election year. She said the work isn’t done yet.

Whitmer was joined at her roundtable by several women, including family physician Dr. Aisha Harris, who said that “tying doctors’ hands behind their backs when they want to give something is not going to be safe for people.”