Ex-Hillary Aide Jess McIntosh Rips Biden’s ‘Shocking’ Position on Key Abortion Rights Issue

CNN commentator and former senior Hillary Clinton aide Jess McIntosh ripped former Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden over his “shocking” position on a key abortion rights issue.

Earlier this month, an ACLU volunteer asked Biden if he would repeal the so-called Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortion services. He replied “Yes,” and said “Right now it has to be… it can’t stay.”

But since then, Biden’s campaign has told several outlets that Biden does, in fact, still support the Hyde Amendment, and told The Hill “that Biden would be open to repealing the amendment if abortion access currently protected under Roe v. Wade was threatened.”

On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto, McIntosh — who was also a longtime senior staffer for the pro-choice Emily’s List and is currently involved with NARAL Pro-Choice America — was asked about Biden’s reversal.

“That’s deeply troubling, and put him completely out of step with most Democrats, most Americans, and absolutely the rest of the field,” McIntosh said, adding “It is a flat out discriminatory policy.”

“What it says is that the women who can access safe and legal abortion are women who can either afford private insurance or pay for it out of pocket themselves, but not women who are poor,” she explained. “I mean, imagine treating any other right that way: You’re allowed to exercise that right if you can pay for it, but otherwise you’re on your own, it’s not a right at all.”

“So the fact that he came out this morning to say that he’s still in favor of this, which is news to most of us, is really quite shocking, and something he’s going to have to spend some time explaining,” McIntosh concluded.

Biden’s is just the latest in a blizzard of abortion rights missteps by the male candidates in the Democratic field, and based on Biden’s comments last month, similarly rooted in a lack of familiarity with the issue.

For example, in May, Bernie Sanders answered “I don’t know” when he was asked how sex-selective abortions should be dealt with legislatively, an issue on which abortion rights organizations have taken a clear position. In April, Beto O’Rourke completely whiffed when asked for legislative specifics on protecting abortion rights.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.