On Monday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk agreed with former President Donald Trump after he claimed that abortion was the largest factor behind the midterm losses of the Republican Party.
In a Truth Social post, Trump cast blame for the disappointing results on the handful of GOP candidates who opposed exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. He attempted to dispel the idea that he had ruined the party’s chances for a “red wave” by endorsing poor candidates in the primaries.
“It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms. I was 233-20!” Trump wrote Sunday, in reference to the winning record of the candidates he endorsed. Among these candidates included Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, and Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, all of whom lost high-profile races that were viewed as easily winnable,
Oz, in particular, was highly favored to win following a difficult debate on the part of Senator-elect John Fetterman. A midterm analysis conducted by The New York Times found that on average, Trump’s preferred candidates performed five points worse than other Republicans in House races.
Trump’s post continued, “It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters. Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, & just plain disappeared, not to be seen again. Plus, Mitch stupid $’s!”
A screenshot of the post was tweeted by independent journalist Ian Miles Cheong, to which Musk replied, saying, “Mostly accurate, tbh”.
Several months ahead of the midterms, on June 24, the Supreme Court cast a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and revoked the constitutional right to an abortion. In response, a handful of red states implemented bans or restrictions on abortions, except in cases that threatened the mother’s life.
Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt passed legislation intended to ban nearly all abortions, including cases involving rape and incest. Other states responded to the decision by moving to enact trigger bans that were in place before Dobbs.
A majority of Americans support legalized abortion in the first trimester, but the overwhelming majority do not support abortion in the second and third trimesters. One 2018 Gallup poll found that just 28% of Americans support abortion in the second trimester. The Gallup poll surveyed 1,024 adults between May 1-10, 2018, with a 4% margin of error.
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