On Sunday, former first lady Melania Trump defended her abortion beliefs, which she details in her upcoming memoir and contradicts those of her husband, former President Donald Trump.
“[Donald Trump] I knew my position and beliefs from the day we met. And I believe in individual freedom. I want to decide what I want to do with my body. I think I don’t want the government in my personal business,” Melania Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday.
His statements come a few days after The Guardian published excerpts from his book she wrote, “It is important to ensure that women have the autonomy to make childbearing choices based on their own convictions, free from any interference or pressure from the government.”
“Why should anyone but a woman have the power to determine what she does with her body? A woman’s fundamental right to individual liberty, her own life, gives her the power to terminate her pregnancy if she so chooses,” she added in her upcoming memoir Melania.
The former first lady expressed her beliefs in the promotional video of the book posted on X last week.
“Individual freedom is the main principle that I protect. There is absolutely no room for compromise when it comes to this fundamental right that all women are born with,” Melania Trump said in the video.
“Individual freedom. What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?’ he added.
Last week — nearly a month before Election Day — the former first lady made public her views on abortion for the first time, a particularly salient issue ahead of November when Democrats try to paint Donald Trump as a pro-abortionist. selected.
In an interview on Sunday, Melania Trump answered questions she faced after going public with her views so close to the election, telling Bartiromo, “Well, it wasn’t written in the last week or the last month. … That book was written months ago and published months ago. That was my belief and this is my belief and I wanted to put it in the book because I want to be authentic.”
Asked by Bartiromo if she was worried voters might change their opinion of her husband because of her views, the former first lady said: “I’m not worried. Everyone has to decide what they want to do.”
The former first lady said she “knew” Donald Trump would have a position in the book, adding: “It allows me to be who I am and to believe what I believe. He lets me be my own person. And he respects that and I respect that for letting him be his own person. He has different beliefs and will do what he believes.”
Melania Trump’s comments echoed what her husband told Fox News on Thursday: “We talked about it and I said, ‘You have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell you what to do. You should write what you believe.”
“He’s so cute,” she said. “People love our former first lady, I can tell you that, but I said, ‘You have to keep your heart.’ I told everyone that you should go with your heart.”
Trump in a post on Truth Social earlier this week said he would veto the abortion ban if one comes across his desk as the president. The former president’s views on the issue were consistent developed.
In May 2023, Trump overturned the Supreme Court’s Roe v. noted the decision to cancel Wade. social media post“After 50 years of failure, after no one has come close, I’m in Roe v. I was able to kill Wade and it shocked everyone.”
And Trump when he was president He urged the Senate to accept it A 20-week restriction on abortions has already passed the House.
Earlier this year, the former president flirted with a 15-week federal abortion limit. “Now the number of weeks – people agree on 15, and I think from that point of view, and something very reasonable will come out. But people really – even the hardliners agree – 15 weeks seems to be a number that people agree on,” he said. In an interview with WABC radio.
In August, Trump told NBC News that Florida’s six-week abortion ban signed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis was “too short.” “It will take more time,” Trump added.
Days later, he announced he would vote against a Florida ballot initiative this year that would have guaranteed the right to abortion until fetal viability.