In recent years, Donald Trump has sold NFTs, sneakers, and bibles. Now the perennial marketer is busy selling a new and improved version of himself to voters. Meet Don 2.0: a reasonable man with moderate views on abortion.

Hang on a second, you might say. Trump? The guy who, in 2016, said “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who get abortions? The guy who can’t stop bragging about how he is responsible for overturning Roe v Wade because he filled the supreme court with conservative justices? The guy who, just a few weeks ago, was pondering a 15-week national abortion ban? That guy has now moderated his views on abortion?

Yes, I know, it’s tough to believe but, stay with me here, Trump has turned over a new leaf! On Wednesday the former president suggested that everyone should ignore all the extreme things he’s said about abortion in the past–not to mention his track record on reproductive rights–and, instead, trust that he would never implement a federal ban on abortion. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said that, if elected president again, he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban even if it passed Congress.

So should we take his word for this or – and I know this is something of a shocking suggestion – is a man who has been charged with 88 criminal offenses in four criminal cases just spouting lies to make himself more electable? It’s honestly very difficult to say.

It’s certainly politically expedient for Trump to tone down his rhetoric on abortion and repeat the talking point that he’s not going to do anything, it’s all for individual states to decide. Reproductive rights are at the centre of the Biden administration’s re-election efforts and the Democrats have just launched a new multimillion-dollar advertising campaign that makes it clear that Trump is responsible for overturning Roe v Wade. “Donald Trump did this,” proclaims the end of one ad, which features a Texas woman who faced life-threatening conditions after........

© The Guardian