A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, former President Donald J. Trump reminded a gathering of evangelical activists in the nation’s capital how he had shaped the court’s conservative supermajority that ended nearly 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion.
Appearing at a Faith and Freedom Coalition gala in Washington on Saturday night, he cited his appointment of three of the six justices who voted to strike down the law as a key to his presidency. And he presented himself as an unyielding crusader for the Christian right in a meandering speech that lasted nearly 90 minutes.
“No president has ever fought for Christians as hard as I have,” he said, adding, “I did it, and no one thought it was even a possibility.”
It was the eighth appearance of Mr. Trump in front of the group, whose support he seeks to consolidate in a multitudinous G.OP. competition for the 2024 nomination, even though he is the leader in the field. He said Republican voters were skeptical of the claims of some of their rivals that they were stronger opponents of abortion, suggesting that skepticism had surfaced during the election campaign.
“One woman stood up and said, ‘This guy ended Roe v. Wade. How the hell can you go against him?’” Trump said, without mentioning the candidate or the setting.
Several thousand activists gave Mr. Trump when he mentioned the ruling, which he said gave conservatives strength in the ongoing battle over abortion rights. Several hundred more filled an overflow room.
“You have power for the first time,” he said.
Virtually all the rivals of Mr. Trump in the crowded GOP field appeared during the group’s three-day Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton. The lineup included Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Mr. Trump, and former Vice President Mike Pence, the former running mate of Mr. trump
At a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial last Saturday to commemorate the court’s ruling, Mr. Pence urged anti-abortion activists to continue fighting for more restrictions on the procedure at the state level.
“Save the babies and we’ll save America,” he said, adding, “As the old book says, there’s a lot more with us than with them.”
In a speech at the meeting a day earlier, Mr. Pence called on the entire 2024 Republican presidential field to pledge to support a national ban on abortion at 15 weeks, a more extreme ban than the one the Mr. Trump has supported it so far.
David Porter, 64, a Republican from Newport News, Va., who wore a “Walk With Jesus” hat at the rally, praised Mr. Trump for his mark on the judiciary.
“He’s my man right now,” she said.
Several times in his speech on Saturday night, Mr. Trump tried to align himself with the faith community and said it was under attack, just like he was.
“Together, we are warriors in a righteous crusade to stop arsonists, atheists, globalists and Marxists,” he said.
Each accusation, he added, was a “great badge of courage”.
“I am accused by you,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s alliance with the Christian right is a study in political opportunism, which has paid prodigious dividends for both.
In 2016, evangelical voters helped propel Mr. Trump to successive Republican primary victories in South Carolina and other key states, giving him a path to the nomination and eventually the presidency.
The influential electoral bloc showed its willingness to look beyond the impieties of twice-divorced Mr Trump, whose extramarital affairs have long been tabloid fodder and who came with a history of supporting the abortion rights in the 1990s. Evangelical voters bought into the populist narrative of Mr. Trump, as well as his promises to carry out a hard-line reset of the nation’s immigration and trade policies and to appoint “pro-life” judges.
The group collected its returns during the presidency of Mr. Trump when he consolidated a supermajority on the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump has announced his remake of the nation’s highest court as he once again seeks the support of evangelical voters, this time beset by a cascade of indictments, including one in a hush money case involving a porn star.
But while Mr Trump has highlighted his role in the right-wing fight to end abortion rights, he has repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether he would sign a federal abortion ban if Republicans succeed one through the divided Congress.
Mr. Porter, the Virginia anti-abortion activist, said Mr. Trump was worrying.
“You either stand up for what you believe in or you don’t,” he said.
Mr. DeSantis, who spoke at the evangelical conclave on Friday, has tried to turn the right flank against Mr. Trump on abortion policy. He criticized the former president for suggesting that a six-week abortion ban that Mr. DeSantis signed in Florida was “too tough.”
Susan Migliore, an anti-abortion activist from Falls Church, Va., who said she was religious but not evangelical, said at the Lincoln Memorial rally that she was grateful for Mr. Trump, however, had not decided which candidate he would support. in 2024.
