Dr. Ben Carson and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who both endorsed GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, defended the real estate mogul’s comments on abortion, which made news on Wednesday when Trump initially said women should face some form of punishment for having an illegal abortion.
“Bear in mind, I don’t believe that he was warned that that question was coming, and I don’t think he really had a chance to really think about it,” Carson stated on CNN. “That happens very frequently, and you know, what you develop with experience is how to answer that in a way that is not definitive.”
“You know how politicians are. He has not really learned that — he’s not a politician,” Carson added.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also endorsed Trump, also defended Trump’s statements on abortion.
“I don’t know that he’s misspoken a whole lot more than anybody else in this race,” Christie stated during a radio interview in New Jersey.
Trump later released a press statement clarifying his stance on abortion. It said:
“If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” Trump stated. “The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb. My position has not changed – like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions.”