Trump has repeatedly shifted his stance on abortion access, both supporting and opposing access to the vital health care resource over the decades. During an exploratory period when he was considering a presidential run in the 2000 election, Trump stated that he was “very pro-choice.” However, during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump claimed his beliefs had “evolved,” and he went on to support anti-abortion policies  while in office and claim victory after the Supreme Court, including three of his nominees, struck down Roe v. Wade. 

In July, the Republican National Committee adopted new language in its platform that gives the false appearance of a softened party stance on abortion (removing calls for a national abortion ban) but also suggested support for fetal “personhood.” Right-wing media sought to capitalize on the confusion, and mainstream media continue to fall for their charade that their anti-abortion positions are no longer extreme.

Reporting on Biden’s DNC speech, both CNN and PolitiFact fact-checked his claim that “Trump will do everything to ban abortion nationwide,” suggesting it wasn’t entirely accurate because he has recently changed his position.

PolitiFact noted that “Trump has repeatedly said” since April that “he believes abortion legislation should be ‘left up to the states’" and that he “told reporters in April that he wouldn’t sign a national ban.” Yet the fact check also mentioned that in office, “Trump endorsed a 20-week national abortion ban that House Republicans backed. Earlier in this election year, he floated support for 15- or 16-week federal abortion bans, news outlets reported.”

Similarly, CNN wrote that Biden’s “claim does not reflect Trump’s most recent comments on abortion and needs context.” The fact check noted that Trump said in April “that he would not sign a national abortion ban if elected to the White House again,” adding, “That statement reversed what he said in 2016 when he was first running for the presidency and was the opposite of statements he made throughout his time in office.”

CNN also mentioned that some Trump advisers have encouraged him to use the Comstock Act of 1873 to ban abortion nationwide, and both pieces noted Trump has been silent about his position on this.

However, neither fact check mentioned that just last month, the Republican National Committee adopted a platform proposed by Trump that indicated support for fetal personhood.

The platform removed calls for various forms of national abortion bans, making it seem like it was softening the party’s stance, but they were replaced with a statement that the 14th Amendment “guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process.” And as Amanda Becker and Shefali Luthra of the 19th noted, that language “opens the door to establishing fetal personhood.”

Author Jessica Valenti also called out the Republican -- and, by extension, Trump -- tactic of muddying the waters regarding the GOP’s position on abortion:

While the platform calls for constitutional protections for fetuses, it also claims that abortion is a state’s rights issue—a clear contradiction. … In other words, despite media claims that Republicans removed support for a national ban in platform, I’d argue that they very much did not. The language is vague and obfuscates, yes. But that’s deliberate.

Mainstream media outlets have repeatedly failed to recognize that Trump and right-wing media have used this strategy of bait-and-switch messaging to muddy and downplay their unpopular position and policy goals on abortion. It’s time for them to do better.