Former President Donald Trump attended a Fox News town hall in suburban Georgia on Tuesday with an audience made up of all women, a demographic that could be crucial in the 2024 presidential race.
Here are five takeaways from the event in Cumming, Georgia, hosted by Fox News host Harris Faulkner and broadcast Wednesday morning.
President Trump vows to ban transgender women from women’s sports
In response to a question from the audience about how he plans to “address transgender issues in women’s sports,” President Trump vowed to unilaterally ban transgender women from competing.
“It’s a very simple question, but I think everyone in the room knows the answer, and we won’t allow it,” Trump said.
The former president cited recent examples of transgender athletes participating in sports, including one who was banned from last summer’s Paris Olympics.
“We will stop it, we will stop it,” President Trump said. “We will absolutely stop it. We won’t get it.”
Asked by Faulkner how he would enforce such a ban, President Trump said: The president has banned it. I just don’t allow it. ”
President Trump declares himself ‘father of IVF’
President Trump said at a town hall that he is the “father of in vitro fertilization.” In vitro fertilization is an infertility treatment method that has been under threat since the Alabama Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, ruling that frozen embryos are “fetuses.” And those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death.
When Mr. Faulkner introduced an audience member who asked him about President Trump’s position, the former president said: I want to ask this question because I am an IVF father. ”
He said he received a call from Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt explaining the controversy surrounding the state’s ruling.
“And within about two minutes, we found out that we were completely in favor of IVF,” President Trump said. “We want fertilization, and it’s going full steam ahead, but the Democrats tried to attack us on that, and we’re more committed to IVF than they are. So, We fully agree.”
President Trump says some states are ‘too strict’ on abortion
While discussing the issue of women’s reproductive rights, President Trump said that states that restrict access to abortion are “too strict,” but he did not specify which states.
“They’re too tough, too tough. And they’re going to be redone because there’s already a movement going on in those states,” he said.
On August 29, President Trump appeared to show support for a Florida ballot initiative that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. The next day he flipped out and said he would not vote yes. Florida currently has a six-week abortion ban.
President Trump increasingly calls Democrats the ‘enemy from within’
Faulkner asked Trump about a previous Fox interview in which he called Democrats “the enemy from within.” Footage of the interview was played at a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday where Vice President Kamala Harris claimed President Trump was becoming “increasingly unstable and unfree.” During Tuesday’s town hall, Faulkner used the footage to ask Trump what he thought about Harris.
“I think it was a great presentation,” President Trump said. “I wasn’t upset. You know what those are? They’re soundbite parties.”
The former president then doubled down on his inflammatory characterization of the Democratic Party.
“It’s an enemy from within and it’s very dangerous,” he said. “They are Marxists, communists and fascists.
“They are a threat to democracy,” he added.
very friendly audience
The all-female audience included 110 women from local churches and mothers’ groups, according to Fox News.
Some people were surprised and nervous in front of the former president. Rachel, a single mother from Cumming, Georgia, told President Trump that she was “shaking like a leaf on a tree” and was “having a panic attack.”
“By the way, you have a beautiful voice,” Trump told her.
And they showered Trump with applause throughout the hour-long event.
When President Trump called Harris “the worst vice president in history,” the audience erupted into loud applause.
Harris will be interviewed by Fox News host Bret Baier on Wednesday at 6pm ET.
