Donald Trump Made A Pretty Unfortunate Mix-Up During The Debate

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday made a pretty unfortunate mix-up during the ABC News presidential debate, while he was falsely accusing Democrats of supporting the killing of babies after their birth.

Asked by moderator Linsey Davis why voters should trust him on abortion given hes changed his position on the issue several times, Trump claimed Democrats have radical positions on the medical procedure.

They even have, and you can look at the governor of West Virginia, the previous governor of West Virginia, not the current governor, whos doing an excellent job, but the governor before, Trump said. He said the baby will be born and we will decide what to do with the baby. In other words, well execute the baby. 

In this case, Trump appears to have mixed up the state of West Virginia with the state of Virginia, as he tried to reference comments made by former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), which have been taken out of context by the GOP .

In an interview with WTOP in 2019, Northam, a pediatric neurologist, said third-term abortions were done with the consent of women and their physicians in cases where there may be severe deformities.

There may be a fetus thats nonviable. In this particular example, if a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, he said. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if thats what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.

Republicans seized on Northams comments to falsely claim Democrats support executing babies.

Trumps comments on abortion Tuesday prompted a fact check by Davis, who noted: There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after its born.

During the debate, Trump also declined to say whether he would sign a national abortion ban into law if he won in November despite repeated questions from moderators. 

Trump has changed his position several times when it comes to the medical procedure. While he suggested last month that he would support Floridas abortion-rights amendment, he backtracked  soon after, saying he would vote against it.