Biden pushes abortion message in Trump’s home state of Florida

The US President’s Tampa speech comes a week before the state’s six-week abortion ban takes effect.

Joe Biden speaks in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday night. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST) took his push for abortion rights to Florida, where he blamed rival Donald Trump for a looming six-week ban in the Republican’s home state as he seeks to keep the issue in voters’ minds.

Mr Biden spoke in Tampa a week before the state’s ban is set to take effect, looking to harness the momentum on an issue that has energised Democrats since the Supreme Court eliminated the right to the procedure in 2022. While the state isn’t considered a top presidential battleground, it provides a powerful backdrop as Democrats assail the ban and campaign for a Nov­ember ballot initiative that would restore broad abortion ­access in the state.

“Let’s be real clear. There’s one person responsible for this nightmare and he’s acknowledged it and he’s bragged about it: Donald Trump,” Mr Biden said. “He bragged about overturning Roe v Wade.”

While polls show Republicans with an edge on the economy and immigration, abortion is the issue where Democrats have the greatest advantage over the GOP.

Mr Biden, who previously espoused more moderate abortion views and at times has been a reluctant messenger, devoted his first rally of the year to abortion and is leaning into the issue with this visit.

He tied Mr Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, to bans in Florida and other states, stressing that his predecessor appointed three judges to the court that overturned the Roe decision.

He pledged to restore federal protection for abortion and argued that other freedoms could be at risk, like access to contraception and same-sex marriage.

“Today in 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers because of Donald Trump,” Mr Biden said.

“I don’t think we’re going to let him get away with it, do you?”

Mr Trump now makes his home in Florida, but he will be stuck for the next few weeks at his hush-money trial in a Manhattan courtroom.

Mr Trump beat Mr Biden in 2020 in Florida by 3.4 percentage points, and recent Florida polls show him leading by a wider margin in the state this year.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said “Florida is Trump country.”

In a statement, Florida Republican Party chairman Evan Power said: “Floridians’ top issues are immigration, the economy, and inflation; in all three areas, Joe Biden has failed.

“Instead of coming to talk to Floridians about manufactured issues, he should get to work solving the real issues he has failed to lead on.”

Mr Trump has struggled to find his footing on abortion and has offered conflicting positions. He has taken credit for appointing the judges who overturned Roe, but has also said abortion should be left to the states, avoiding a position on a national ban. After Arizona revived a Civil War-era ban on most abortions, he said the state’s high court had gone too far.

The Florida law was signed last year by Governor Ron De­Santis. It has limited exceptions, including for rape and incest and for certain medical emergencies. The state’s voters will have the chance to weigh in on abortion in November, on a ballot measure that if successful would restore the broad abortion access the state had before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

Since that fell, abortion rights advocates have won seven straight referendum victories. Democratic candidates for governor, congress and state legislative contests have successfully campaigned in opposition to abortion restrictions.

The Wall Street Journal