Belief in Trump's strength as a leader is so pervasive that it survived even the extraordinary amount of buck-passing he did during the biggest crisis of his final year in office, the COVID pandemic. Trump was a blame-shifter right from the start, telling a reporter who asked him about the lack of available tests, "I don't take responsibility at all." When governors sought medical supplies from the federal government, Trump told them, “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves.” He blamed China. He blamed past presidents, especially Barack Obama.
Trump, the strong leader, likes to shift blame whenever he believes that no good outcome is possible for him. He's blame-shifting on abortion, which he once supported openly and now opposes only because his voter base does. He deeply resents any implication that he might bear some responsibility for the future of abortion rights in America, even as he takes credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who got rid of Roe v. Wade. If you don't like what's about to happen, don't come whining to him! It's not his fault -- and it won't be his fault in a second term, as he insisted to Time magazine's Eric Cortellessa in a newly published interview. Over and over again he said it would be a state matter:
You came out this week and said that abortion should be left to the states and you said you won't sign a federal ban. So just to be clear: Will you veto any bill that imposes any federal restrictions on abortions?Donald Trump is viscerally pro-choice, no matter what he tells the rubes now, because having abortion available as a backup during his days as a self-promoting cocksman was a matter of self-preservation. (Self-preservation is the closest thing Trump has to a core value.) He worries that abortion might defeat him in 2024 the way many people believe COVID defeated him in 2020. So he's insisting that the potential bad outcomes are other people's fault.
Trump: You don’t need a federal ban. We just got out of the federal. You know, if you go back on Roe v. Wade, Roe v. Wade was all about—it wasn't about abortion so much as bringing it back to the states. So the states would negotiate deals. Florida is going to be different from Georgia and Georgia is going to be different from other places....
People want to know whether you would veto a bill, if it came to your desk, that would impose any federal restrictions. This is really important to a lot of voters.
Trump: But you have to remember this: There will never be that chance because it won't happen. You're never going to have 60 [Republican] votes [in the Senate]. You're not going to have it for many, many years, whether it be Democrat or Republican. Right now, it’s essentially 50-50. I think we have a chance to pick up a couple, but a couple means we're at 51 or 52. We have a long way to go. So it's not gonna happen, because you won't have that. Okay. But with all of that being said, it's all about the states, it's about state rights. States’ rights. States are going to make their own determination.
So just to be clear, then: You won't commit to vetoing the bill if there's federal restrictions—federal abortion restrictions?
Trump : I won't have to commit to it because it’ll never—number one, it’ll never happen. Number two, it’s about states’ rights. You don't want to go back into the federal government. This was all about getting out of the federal government. And this was done, Eric, because of—this was done, this issue, has been simplified greatly over the last one week. This is about and was originally about getting out of the federal government. The last thing you want to do is go back into the federal government. And the states are just working their way through it....
... Your allies in the Republican Study Committee, which makes up about 80% of the GOP caucus, have included the Life of Conception act in their 2025 budget proposal. The measure would grant full legal rights to embryos. Is that your position as well?
Trump: Say it again. What?
The Life at Conception Act would grant full legal rights to embryos, included in their 2025 budget proposal. Is that your position?
Trump: I'm leaving everything up to the states. The states are going to be different. Some will say yes. Some will say no. Texas is different than Ohio.
Would you veto that bill?
Trump: I don't have to do anything about vetoes, because we now have it back in the states.
The exchange that's causing him the most trouble today is this one:
Let’s say there’s a 15-week ban.... Do you think states should monitor women's pregnancies so they can know if they've gotten an abortion after the ban?As in the case of COVID, Trump might succeed in persuading people that bad outcomes aren't his fault, but because he's the most narcissistic person who's ever lived, he can't even bring himself to express concern about bad outcomes.* Hundreds of thousands of Americans die from COVID? Women are monitored by the state so they can't get abortions, or are thrown in jail if they try to obtain one? Trump can't make himself say he feels anyone's pain, because the only pain he can feel is the pain of being blamed for something that he's told us repeatedly is someone else's fault.
Trump: I think they might do that. Again, you'll have to speak to the individual states....
States will decide if they're comfortable or not—
Trump: Yeah the states—
Prosecuting women for getting abortions after the ban. But are you comfortable with it?
Trump: The states are going to say. It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It's totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.
That's leadership, Trump style!
* Much less say that, as the president of the United States, he'd work to eliminate or minimize those bad outcomes.
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