‘I Hate to Say It, But…’: Mara Gay Admits Trump’s ‘Killer Instincts’ Give Him Upper Hand Over DeSantis on Abortion

As the abortion squabble between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis continues to unfold, New York Times’ Mara Gay assessed that the former president has proven himself more savvy on the issue than the governor of Florida.

Gay was on Morning Joe Wednesday as the show discussed Trump and DeSantis locking horns to define the Republican Party’s exact position on abortion. DeSantis recently signed a bill banning most abortions in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, and since Trump recently refused to say whether he would sign a national abortion ban if re-elected, DeSantis pounced on Trump for that and for calling his state ban “harsh.”

Trump took a victory lap on abortion last night by gloating that the repeal of Roe V. Wade was made possible because of the conservative justices he appointed to the Supreme Court. Willie Geist acknowledged this as he turned to Gay, saying, “I don’t think pro-life Republicans are going to quibble with what week he decides abortion should be legal or illegal. He got them the holy grail.”

Gay agreed, calling it a reflection of Trump’s “killer instincts.”

“He really has good political instincts in many ways,” said the Times editorial board member. “I disagree with him on almost everything, and I’m certainly not his target audience, but this is a man who really doe have his pulse, I think, on what matters to a lot of Republican voters. And we have already seen — he’s delivered for them on Dobbs. So I think he’s really forcing DeSantis to point out just how extreme his position is, and there’s smart politics in that. Those are the kind of instincts you can’t really teach. So I hate to say it, but what we’re seeing is Donald Trump coming out swinging.”

Eddie Glaude Jr. agreed with Gay that Trump has “good” political instincts, even though the results of DeSantis’ appeal to the right have yet to be seen.

Watch above via MSNBC.