Trump Has Been Getting More Erratic on Abortion—Kamala Harris Finally Called Him Out

At last night's presidential debate in Philadelphia, former President Donald Trump parroted an untrue right-wing talking point claiming that people will “execute the baby” after they are born. (That, of course, would be infanticide and is 100 percent a crime.) It’s not the first time Trump told this lie. It’s not even the first time Trump told this lie at a presidential debate this year. But—last night he was finally called out on it.

Moderator Linsey Davis was quick to correct him, bringing up the first fact check of the night. “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill the baby after it’s born,” Davis said.

Vice President Kamala Harris then stepped in firmly. “Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion,” said Harris. “That is not happening and it's insulting to the women of America.”

The abortion question was brought up early in the night, and marked a shift in the debate’s energy as Trump and Harris sparred on an issue that has become a crucial point in the election cycle. While Trump focused on erroneous claims about women executing babies after birth, Harris pointed out how three of Trump’s selected Supreme Court Justices helped overturn the federal protection for abortion under Roe v. Wade. She detailed all of the egregious treatment of women occurring in states with abortion bans, like women being denied miscarriage care at emergency rooms or 12-year-old survivors of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term.

“One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government—and Donald Trump certainly—should not be telling a woman what to do with her body,” Harris said. She was forceful while speaking, looking directly at Trump who refused to look back at her. “What you are putting [these women] through is unconscionable.”

The question was brought up because Trump has recently been flip-flopping on abortion. He’s gone back and forth on whether he supports a Florida ballot measure adding abortion protections to the state’s constitutions. At the debate, although pressed, he refused to answer whether he would veto a national abortion ban. When Davis pointed out that his VP nominee J.D. Vance had commented on Trump vetoing a ban, Trump simply sidestepped the response and said he hadn’t discussed it with Vance yet.

Back in June, when Trump made his false claim about after-birth abortions, Biden had sputtered, saying Trump was lying but going off on a tangent about immigration. Abortion activists were infuriated that Biden didn’t give a stronger answer, although it was not totally out of character for a man who struggles with even saying the word.

In contrast, Harris’s answer on abortion was a highlight of the debate. David Plouffe, a senior advisor for her campaign, tweeted, “Forty point difference with undecided voters on their abortion answers. Widest gap I’ve ever seen in debate dials.” A deputy campaign manager for Harris said that in the first hour of the debate, which is when the abortion exchange happened, 71 percent of the campaign’s grassroots donors were women.

Sixty-three percent of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to Pew Research. Democrats have made their support for abortion access an important part of their platform. Meanwhile, Trump brags about overturning Roe v. Wade. But he wants to make Harris and the Democrats look radical on an issue the majority of the public supports, so Trump’s recourse is inventing situations that don’t happen.

“Execute the baby” and “abortion in 9th” started trending on X, formerly known as Twitter. NAACP got more than 2.5 million views for their tweet that read, “For the record: You cannot have an abortion in the 9th month. You cannot have an abortion after birth. If we didn’t keep banning books, maybe we wouldn’t have to clear that up.”

“Donald Trump was totally incoherent. He was angry and rattled, and it all began when Vice President Harris held him accountable for his record overturning Roe v. Wade and harming women nationwide,” Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “Trump refused to say he would veto a national abortion ban.”

Nourbese Flint, president of All* In Action Fund, said that Harris displayed “fierce leadership” at the debate. “She was clear and firm in her stance on access to abortion care and unflinching in her defense of our freedoms in the face of Donald Trump's lies and dangerous rhetoric,” Flint said in a statement. “It's clear that she understands the widespread harm of the abortion care crisis we face and will fight for us every single day, making her the leader that we need in this critical moment in our history.”

When Harris replaced Biden as the Democrat’s presidential candidate, abortion activists expressed their hope that this would amplify the importance of reproductive healthcare. Now, they seem to have had that wish fulfilled. Harris has long been a strong supporter of abortion rights, and in March, became the first sitting vice president to visit an abortion clinic. (Ironically, the clinic was in Minnesota and Tim Walz joined her.)

The contrast to Biden’s debate answer on abortion, and Harris’s answer was night and day—and it only served to underscore how extreme Trump sounds when he makes up lies about executing babies after birth.