CNN Pushes Misleading Talking Point That Biden ‘Has Never Even Said the Word Abortion’ Since Taking Office

CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga repeatedly pushed the misleading claim that President Joe Biden has not “mentioned” or “said” the word “abortion” since taking office.

Tuesday’s news cycle was dominated by news of the draft Supreme Court decision that was leaked to Politico Monday night that would overturn the right to abortion if it goes into effect.

And on CNN, shortly after Biden weighed in with a statement calling for legislators to codify the right to abortion, Golodryga asked a panel if Biden has done enough before now — while making that misleading claim:

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: Democrats who have argued that this president, the President Biden, has not focused enough on this issue. He hasn’t even said the word “abortion” since taking office. How much does his approach to this issue now change?

GLORIA BORGER: 100%. You know, Joe Biden in the past has had some troubles with the issue of abortion. We know that he’s a devout Catholic. We know that he’s shifted positions in the past. And so there have been some questions about what he was willing to do.

Later in the same hour, Golodryga made a similar claim to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who neither criticized nor defended Biden on the point:

BIANNA GOLODRYGA: I’m curious, given what we discussed in our previous segment about him not even mentioning the word abortion thus far into his term as president, do you think that he and his administration have done enough publicly to highlight the significance of this issue or.

SEN. WARREN: We’re past the time when we can look in the rearview mirror. We just don’t have the luxury of that.

But the facts are that President Biden has mentioned the word “abortion” in written statements on multiple occasions since taking office. And he has spoken very clearly, on many occasions since taking office, about the subject of abortion rights without using the exact word “abortion” — including during the State of the Union Address:

Advancing liberty and justice also requires protecting the rights of women.

The constitutional right affirmed in Roe v. Wade—standing precedent for half a century—is under attack as never before.

If we want to go forward—not backward—we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman’s right to choose. And let’s continue to advance maternal health care in America.

It’s true that in almost 50 years in politics, Biden’s positions on abortion issues have shifted — including a significant swing to opposing the Hyde Amendment that only occurred during the last presidential campaign —  but it is misleading to suggest that the president has shied away from supporting abortion rights since he took office, let alone that he’s been afraid to mention it.

Watch above via CNN.