'Serious blow': Florida's abortion ballot measure has the GOP on the run

As recently as two weeks ago, Donald Trump told the conservative radio show “Sid & Friends in the Morning" that he was warming up to the idea of backing a national abortion ban.

“The number of weeks, now, people are agreeing on 15, and I’m thinking in terms of that," he said on March 19, adding that he would announce the particulars of a national ban "at the appropriate time."

But apparently now isn't the appropriate time, despite two bombshell rulings by the Florida Supreme Court effectively allowing a six-week statewide ban to take effect while giving Floridians the chance to vote on an abortion rights ballot measure in November. 

As soon as the whipsaw rulings came down Monday, President Joe Biden's campaign pounced, launching a new ad campaign hitting Trump for ending Roe v. Wade, holding a press call, and releasing a strategy memo to reporters on Biden's "opening in Florida."

Trump took the opposite path, one that doesn't come naturally:  He clammed up. On Tuesday, the ever-loquacious candidate, who routinely brags about terminating Roe, said only that he would release a "statement" on Florida's six-week ban next week. Amid the Republican primary race last fall, Trump called Florida’s six-week ban, signed by his rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a "terrible mistake."

Meanwhile, Trump's campaign sought to paint the November ballot measure as being perfectly in line with their candidate’s belief that states should own the issue.

“President Trump supports preserving life but has also made clear that he supports states’ rights because he supports the voters’ right to make decisions for themselves,” Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Politico. 

That message is pretty muddled, given that Trump is promising a big announcement on a national abortion ban—an idea he has reportedly been chewing over for the past several months. 

But Democrats aren't just pressing the matter at the top of the ticket.