Trump’s chaotic public statements—flip flops, in the parlance of politics—can also yield the false impression of moderation. Eight years ago, as he fought to secure the Republican nomination, he appeared to moderate his positions on abortion and terrorism, endorsing “highly skilled” immigrants and walking back calls to murder the families of terrorists. At the time, I fell for it, writing that Trump was “already pivoting” to the general election. But Trump’s own statements only appeared moderate when placed next to other, more extreme statements made by Trump himself. And on the campaign trail in the months ahead, Trump continued to rail against all immigrants and call for the United States to torture its declared enemies.
The other problem with the idea that Trump is pivoting on abortion is that … he isn’t, actually. There is no national abortion ban, so a 16-week ban is by definition more extreme than what currently exists. It would not require states that have already banned abortion to suddenly allow it up until the four-month deadline, but it would create bans in blue states that have codified the protections that existed under Roe v. Wade. The idea that rescinding the right to abortion from tens of millions of women is the moderate position is absurd on its face.
At the same time, Trump is hardly hiding the fact that he plans on making his administration the most extreme in American history. There are plans to fire thousands of government employees and replace them with sycophants and far-right activists, and to round up millions of immigrants and deport them. On Tuesday, Politico reported that a second Trump administration would be infused with “Christian nationalism” and that Russell Vought, a leading Christian nationalist who served in the Trump White House, is being touted as a potential chief-of-staff. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, effectively a blueprint for President Trump redux, has similarly backed widespread restrictions on abortion. Per Politico, it “proposes increasing surveillance of abortion and maternal mortality reporting in the states, compelling the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of ‘chemical abortion drugs’ and protecting ‘religious and moral’ objections for employers who decline contraception coverage for employees.” Not exactly a turn toward moderation!