CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski released newly uncovered comments from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden about abortion that are likely to cause a significant headache for Biden’s campaign.
“Biden made the comments ahead of his 2008 presidential bid in a March 2006 interview with Texas Monthly,” Kaczynski reported. “In the 2006 video, Biden called himself the ‘odd man out’ in the Democratic Party on the issue because of his votes to limit government funding for abortion and votes in support of bans on certain late-term abortions.”
The remarks that are likely to cause Biden the biggest problem came during a portion of the interview where he acknowledged that he would have a hard time in the Democratic presidential field in 2008 due to his views on abortion.
“It’s going to be very difficult,” Biden said. “I do not view abortion as a choice and a right. I think it’s always a tragedy, and I think that it should be rare and safe, and I think we should be focusing on how to limit the number of abortions. There ought to be able to have a common ground and consensus as to do that.”
Biden noted that the problem with the debate on abortion is that candidates are forced into extremes on both sides, saying: “Unfortunately, we’re put in the position, you’re either, ‘eliminate abortions under all circumstance’ or quote, ‘abortion on demand.'”
When speaking about his record on abortion, Biden said: “I do not vote for funding for abortion. I voted against partial-birth abortion — to limit it — and I vote for no restrictions on a woman’s right to be able to have an abortion under Roe v. Wade. And, so I am — I made everybody angry. I made the right-to-life people angry because I won’t support a constitutional amendment or limitations on a woman’s right to exercise her constitutional right as defined by Roe v. Wade. And I’ve made the groups — the women’s groups and others — very angry because I won’t support public funding and I won’t support partial-birth abortion.”
The newly uncovered remarks come after Biden flipped on his position on the Hyde Amendment last week after receiving intense pressure from the other Democratic candidates, most of whom are far-left in political orientation.
Biden “announced his new opposition to blocking taxpayer money from funding abortion during an event in Atlanta [last] Thursday,” The Daily Wire reported. “The announcement came just one day after his campaign reaffirmed his decades-long support for the Hyde Amendment, which, as CNN put it, positioned him ‘to the right of all other leading 2020 Democratic contenders, as well as Hillary Clinton and the party’s platform in 2016.'”
In May, The Daily Wire reported:
A recent analysis from Politico specifically stated that no 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have come out against “late-term” abortions and that most of the candidates support no restrictions — which means they support allowing abortions all the way up until the moment of birth — even though they may try to avoid the issue by being too vague.
Recent polling has found that 55% of Americans support pro-life “heartbeat” bills — legislation that bans abortion once a heartbeat is detectable — and that only 13% support third-trimester, late-term abortions.
CDC statistics show that out of the 638,169 abortions that were performed in 2015, 1.3% of those abortions were performed at ≥21 weeks’ gestation — equivalent to 8,296 babies.
To read more about specific abortion comments from the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, click here.
