‘He’s Distracting Us’: GOP Strategist Calls Out Trump For Claim Democrats Are ‘Executing Babies’

Former President Donald Trump’s latest statement on abortion is giving many people pause, but one part of his statement is being dismissed as classic Trump “crazy” talk.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer welcomed Republican strategist Doug Heye and Meghan Hays, former Special Assistant to President Joe Biden, to discuss Trump’s statement. At the end of the segment, Blitzer brought up the false claim that Trump made — and has repeatedly made — that Democrats support “execution after birth.” It’s a claim that has been widely debunked, which has not stopped it from being regularly repeated on the right.

Both Heye and Hays wrote the statement off as Trump’s usual misinformation, but Heye went a step further and called it a “distraction”:

Blitzer: What’s your reaction to Trump’s claim that radical Democrats support executing babies after birth?

Hays: I mean, it’s not surprising that he says things that are totally crazy and totally lies. That’s just not true or even reasonable to think so, I mean… The reaction is it’s not surprising coming from the former president.

Blitzer: What’s your reaction?

Heye: Not surprising coming from the former president. He just says things and tries to get reactions. And Donald Trump sometimes plays the role of a matador. He waves a red cape and we all chase it because he’s distracting us from what he doesn’t want us to see. He’s very skilled at it.

Some of the criticism of Trump’s statement, which echoed comments he has made previously, is that by taking credit for the end of Roe v. Wade and leaving abortion laws in the hands of the states, he’s trying to have it both ways and not take a definitive position on abortion in an election year when he knows that the issue is a loser at the ballot box for Republicans.

Watch the video above via CNN.

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