Fox News’s Martha MacCallum and Senator Mark Kelly Throw Down Over Whether Or Not Trump Will Ban Abortion
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum sparred on Tuesday over whether or not former President Donald Trump will push for a national abortion ban should he be reelected.
The conversation began with MacCallum playing Kelly some of the exchange between Elon Musk and Joe Rogan on Monday night.
“So there’s two things in there. One is this question about the bro vote. I’d love you to address that among young people in Arizona. And then also this issue of illegal, about immigrants coming into this country and how that might change the electorate?” MacCallum asked the Arizona Democrat about the clip she showed.
Kelly decided to go in a different direction and replied, “Well, let me start with the first part. So Donald Trump took away women’s reproductive rights across the country. Now, what that meant in Arizona–”
MacCallum cut in, “They vote on that in Arizona, depending on how Arizonans feel on it and it’s on the ballot. So that’s not a Trump factor.”
“Yeah, but these kids standing in line are Arizona voters and women so far, especially here in Arizona, across the country, are voting at a higher rate. We’ll see if that keeps up throughout the day. But my expectation, because of the work we did, we knocked on over 200,000 doors over the weekend, 600,000 phone calls. And that’s going to really make a difference. And I feel the energy is here. And bouncing back between one abortion ban and another over the last couple of years,” Kelly replied.
“But abortion is not banned in Arizona,” interjected MacCallum.
“There’s a 15-week ban with no exceptions for rape and incest. But the the issue is, if Donald Trump is back in the White House, he has previously said that given the opportunity he will put in a nationwide abortion ban,” Kelly hit back.
“He didn’t say,” declared MacCallum, “Senator, I’m sorry. He has not–”
Kelly shot back, “He has previously said he would sign a nationwide–”
MacCallum interjected, “Do you want to start talking about what Harris has previously said? Because she was against fracking, she has a lot of things she previously said. But on the campaign trail, if we’re going to work on what people said now–”
“Well, now we’re talking about fracking? I thought we were talking about the women vote in Arizona,” Kelly insisted.
After talking over each other, MacCallum said, “But he’s made it clear he won’t ban abortion as president. Do you accept that as true?”
“You said he has said he will punish women and he will and doctors should go to jail. And women know that here in Arizona they’ve heard that and they’ve seen themselves bouncing back and forth between one really bad ban and another,” Kelly said.
“The fact of the matter is–” jumped in MacCallum as Kelly cut in, “And I think that’s why they’re turning out at high rates.”
“Well, you may you may be right that that’s why they’re turning out. I just want to make sure that we’re talking speaking, you know, the facts here. And the facts are that Arizonans get to decide what their abortion policy is because it’s on the ballot. So it doesn’t have anything to do with Trump. It all went back to the states, after all,” MacCallum insisted.
Kelly replied, “That’s the difference between the two candidates.”
“But it’s not a federal issue anymore, Senator. It’s a state issue, not a federal issue,” MacCallum said.
“It’s going to become a federal issue with the next president where, you know, Kamala Harris has said made it very clear that given the opportunity, she’s going to bring back the rights and the protections that people had under Roe v. Wade. And Donald Trump has said previously that he would sign a nationwide abortion ban. Those are two very crucial barriers,” Kelly replied.
Watch the full clip above via Fox News.
