With his bumbling attempts to answer basic policy questions, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has inadvertently managed to display unique abilities as a “uniter,” as George W. Bush used to say.
Trump somehow managed to unify the most ardent practitioners in the pro-life and pro-choice movements on Tuesday when they blasted his views on abortion.
At the same time, across the globe, diplomats and other government officials from a wide array of countries – no doubt many of which have had serious disagreements in the past – are united in their dismay with Trump and his reckless statements about foreign affairs.
Trump’s pronouncement on Tuesday that women who receive an abortion should be “punished” produced this achievement: putting March for Life and Planned Parenthood on the same side.
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund called Trump “flat-out dangerous” for women and that “women’s lives are not disposable.”
March for Life said Trump was completely “out of touch” with the anti-abortion mantra that a woman receiving an abortion is a victim.
Trump, who is relatively new to the pro-life movement, could be forgiven for failing to grasp the convoluted thinking that says abortion is murder but the woman who engages in the act should face no criminal penalty.
Yet, Trump essentially stepped all over pro-life doctrine in what seemed to be a spur-of-the-moment answer to a question at an MSNBC town hall.
“No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion. This is against the very nature of what we are about,” said Jeanne Mancini of March for Life. “We invite a woman who has gone down this route to consider paths to healing, not punishment.”
Trump later sought to clarify his initial remarks, falling into line by saying if Congress were to pass legislation banning abortion, only doctors performing the procedure should be held legally responsible.
As for foreign policy, Trump has been backpedaling and trying to clarify his remarks on a whole host of issues, from ISIS to nuclear weapons to NATO.
The Hill reports that “foreign agent” lobbyists in Washington are flooded with angst-ridden questions about the billionaire businessman from their clients overseas.
Foreign governments have one thing on their mind, the U.S. presidential election, as “confused and perplexed” officials try to comprehend the rise of Trump’s popularity. With Trump possibly falling short of a majority of GOP delegates, one lobbyist who specializes in representing foreign governments told The Hill that a client wanted a full explanation of a contested convention and the Republican Party rules.
Across the volatile Muslim world, the one subject government leaders apparently agree upon is that Trump is a worrisome figure who would put much of the world into “unchartered territory.”
One lobbyist explained: “Nobody knows whether he believes anything of what he says because he’s changed his position so many times.”