The Harris-Walz team announced a multi-state “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom" bus tour Friday, which kicks off Tuesday “in Donald Trump’s backyard in Palm Beach, Florida,” according to a campaign statement. The bus tour will make at least 50 stops around the country throughout the fall, “touching blue communities and red ones.”
Florida is a smart place to launch it: Abortion is on the ballot and Donald Trump is confused about what to do about it.
A constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion rights in Florida has Trump tied up in knots. He won’t say whether or not he’ll vote for it in November, but he did say Thursday that the state’s newly passed abortion restrictions are too harsh.
“I think the six weeks is too short, there has to be more time. I’ve told them I want more weeks,” the Republican presidential nominee told NBC News’ Dasha Burns.
While Trump’s flip-flopped on abortion the entirety of his political career, he has consistently bragged about how he is responsible for “solving” the issue with his Supreme Court appointees, who overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. "We brought it back to the states, and now lots of things are happening, and lots of good things are happening," he said in April. Except now it seems he thinks his state didn’t do a good thing.
That doesn’t mean Trump will vote for Florida’s measure, his campaign insisted Thursday, in full damage control mode.
“He has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida. He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short,” Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said soon after Trump demanded “more weeks.”
The next day, Friday, Trump insisted he’ll vote against the amendment, after a day of backlash from anti-abortion zealots.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about Florida’s 6-week abortion ban during an event on May 1, 2024 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Harris’ stance is absolutely clear, and it was even before she became the party’s nominee.
“We stand for the freedom of every American, including the freedom of every person everywhere to make decisions—about their own body, their own health care, and their own doctor,” the vice president said during a May rally. “Americans believe in freedom. And we will not allow you to destroy our most basic rights and principles.”
“This election is about freedom, and the American people want and deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions," Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said Friday. "Our campaign is hitting the road to meet voters in their communities, underscore the stakes of this election for reproductive freedom, and present them with the Harris-Walz ticket’s vision to move our country forward, which stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s plans to drag us back."
The bus tour’s first stop in Palm Beach will feature Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, political commentator Ana Navarro, and Anya Cook, a Florida woman whose miscarriage nearly killed her after she couldn’t get abortion care. She told her story at the Democratic National Convention in August.
The reproductive rights roadshow heads to Jacksonville on Wednesday. This focus on Florida from the Harris-Walz team reflects Harris’s expanding electoral map. The campaign definitely sees Florida in play. Teaming up with the ballot measure backers could help put Harris-Walz over the top, while also helping the ballot measure, which needs to clear 60% to pass.
Can you chip in $5 or more to protect our basic freedoms and keep the Harris-Walz momentum going?
