During an interview with “Meet the Press” on Saturday, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the running mate for former President Donald Trump, said that the Republican nominee would veto any federal abortion ban passed by Congress.
Vance was asked by the host of the show if he would support GOP lawmakers, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who have called for Trump to push for federal abortion bans.
However, the vice presidential nominee reinforced that Trump has “explicitly” said he would veto a ban that made its way onto his desk.
“I mean, if you’re not supporting it, as the president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it,” Vance said during his appearance on the NBC News show.
Trump has been changing his stance on abortion over the last few years. While he often takes credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, he maintains that the issue should be resolved by the states, saying he doesn’t support a federal abortion ban.
“After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone,” Trump said in May 2023 on Truth Social.
However, his latest approach has seemed more consistent as of late. In April, Trump was asked if he would sign a national abortion ban if passed through Congress, and he answered “no.”
It is important to note it was not clarified what he would consider a “ban.”
During the interview, Vance was also asked about Trump’s proposed “zero tolerance” policy and immigration that would lead to family separation.
However, Vance seemed to duck around the question.
Instead, Vance addressed mass deportations, saying before they could be imposed on those who have entered the country illegally, they would need to “stop the bleeding” as “Before we even fix the problem, we’ve got to stop the problem from getting worse.”
“You have to stop so many people from coming here illegally in the first place, and that means undoing everything that [Vice President] Kamala Harris did practically on day one of the administration,” Vance said.
When asked again about family separation, Vance said, “I think that families are currently being separated” and that “you’re certainly going to have to deport some people in this country.”
He noted that deportations would first be for “the most violent criminals in our country.”
“Those people need to be deported,” Vance said. “That’s where you focus federal resources.”