Trump Turns The March For Life Into A Campaign Rally
President Donald Trump on Friday rallied conservative supporters at the March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., telling attendees that he was “proud to stand with you.”
“Sadly, the far left is actively working to erase our God-given rights,” he said. “They are coming after me because I am fighting for you.”
Trump is the first president to speak in person at the annual rally against abortion rights, according to the event’s organizers. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush participated in the rally via video messages during their respective administrations. In 2018, Trump addressed the rally in a speech at the White House that was simulcast on the National Mall.
On Friday, Trump stuck mostly to prepared remarks, touting himself as a champion for “religious liberty,” listing recent administration actions to curtail abortion rights and praising himself for espousing conservative beliefs.
“We are here for one simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born or unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential,” he said.
He commented on the “tremendous turnout” of the “thousands and thousands” of attendees, praising them for leading “the pro-family, pro-life nation.”
“When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation,” he said. “Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.”
As he faces an impeachment trial in the Senate and a re-election campaign, Trump has capitalized on the support of conservatives and evangelical Christians, and used social issues like abortion to rally his base. Conservatives have stood by him, despite his record of views and actions that directly contradict their professed beliefs.
In remarks Wednesday night at a dinner for a conservative Christian university, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she hopes abortion will become “unconstitutional” and “unthinkable,” and compared conservatives’...
