Potential Republican 2024 presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) ducked and dodged when asked if he would sign a six-week abortion ban as president.
Video:
Potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) dodges when asked if he would sign a national six-week abortion ban as president, "I'm not going to talk about six or five or seven or ten." pic.twitter.com/GHYvi3FUbj
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 14, 2023
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Here was Sen. Scott’s exchange with NBC News:
Q: Is six weeks the right mile marker?
Scott: The people have decided that their elected leaders have the opportunity to do so I say absolutely as the culture of life is being protected, we should celebrate that yes, if I were president, I would sign the most conservative pro-life legislation that they can get through congress.
Q: Even if it was six weeks?
A: I’m not going to talk about six or five or seven or ten.
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Sen. Scott’s refusal to answer the abortion ban question illustrates how the political dynamics have changed on the issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Republicans spent a half-century loudly proclaiming that they would ban all abortions if Roe was overturned.
Since the Dobbs decision, Republicans have lost election after election on the issue of abortion, so now when they are challenged on their positions, they become a moving target and refuse to answer. Republican candidates are trapped between having to court extremist right-wing evangelicals who have an outsized voice in any presidential primary and trying to win a general election where the evangelical position is unpopular.
Tim Scott’s refusal to take a strong stand is the worst of all worlds politically. His answer turns off both evangelicals and the broader general election, and it is a sign of potentially losing candidate.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
