President Donald Trump slammed Virginia Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam’s comments on late-term abortion in front of several conservative leaders at a State of the Union preview meeting Monday evening, according to a Tuesday report.
Politico reported that Trump spoke for five minutes with conservative leaders— including pro-life advocates Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and Susan B. Anthony List’s Marjorie Dannenfelser— about how it was outrageous that public officials were thinking about including newborn babies in discussions about allowing late-term abortions.
In his comments, Trump referenced Northam’s remarks about “nonviable” newborn babies.
“When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physician—more than one physician, by the way—and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities,” Northam said in a Wednesday radio interview with WTOP. “There may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
According to Politico, attendees left thinking the president viewed Northam’s inflammatory statements on the same level as murder.
Trump did not mention Northam’s racist medical school yearbook scandal at the meeting.
The president also told those attending the meeting that he intended to paint part of the border wall black as a way to keep illegal aliens from unlawfully crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
But he added that he could not execute his plan because of federal regulations requiring an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) studying the effects of how a painted wall would affect the environment.
Trump held the gathering with acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to give a group of about 20 Republicans tied to the Trump administration a preview of the main themes of Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech— including immigration, foreign affairs, health care, national security, prescription drug prices, and American workers.
The president also held an off-the-record gathering with establishment media news anchors on Tuesday giving a preview of the speech.
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