Former President Donald Trump needs conservative evangelicals to mobilize for him ahead of the November election. But the surest way to do that may cost him women voters.
According to a Thursday report in Politico, Trump's evangelical base is encouraging him to pick a vice presidential candidate who will be staunchly anti-abortion. Some are hoping the former president will tap Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) to be his 2024 running mate.
"Who's the Black guy?" said Bonnie Fitch of the Carter Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, Kentucky, referencing Scott. Her husband, Sid, reportedly "lit up" when Politico asked if Bonnie was talking about the South Carolina Republican and former GOP presidential candidate, and told the publication "I just like the way he’s been speaking."
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During the recent Southern Baptist Convention, Scott Colter — who is CEO of the anti-abortion Danbury Institute — introduced video of Trump's remarks by acknowledging his appointment of Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
"We took a risk on what he said he would do, and he came through and he delivered in that case," Colter said. "And so we can debate all day long the merits of who Donald Trump is and his personality and all of those different things. But he did what he said he would do... And I’m tremendously grateful for that."
However, Trump leaning hard on his anti-abortion record may be a double-edged sword in courting the coveted demographic of suburban women voters. Women who live in suburban areas played decisive roles in the failure of every single abortion-related ballot measure failing across the country in the wake of Roe's demise.
Even though Ohio broke for Trump both in 2016 and 2020 and has a Republican trifecta in its state government, voters nonetheless chose to enshrine abortion rights in the Buckeye State's constitution last fall. Voters in the deep-red state of Kentucky also reelected Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, partially over his pro-choice stance.
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Kevin McClure, who is a member of a Louisville, Kentucky-based Baptist church, told Politico that Trump's running mate choice likely wouldn't impact evangelical turnout.
"I think evangelicals will generally, by and large, vote for him regardless of who he picks," McClure said. "Because the Republican platform currently, in the very least, has a place for pro-life priorities, even if they’re not as strong as many of us would want."
Trump has indicated he would likely announce his running mate at the 2024 Republican National Convention, which will kick off in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 15 — just four days after he'll be sentenced for 34 felony crimes in New York.
Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety (subscription required).
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