Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg refused to tell a Democrat voter on Sunday that her pro-life views were welcomed in the party after being repeatedly pressed about the issue during a Fox News town hall event.
“I am a proud pro-life Democrat,” Kristin Day, a member of the audience, told Buttigieg. “So, do you want the support of pro-life Democrats, pro-life Democratic voters? There are about 21 million of us, and if so, would you support more moderate platform language in the Democratic Party to ensure that the party of diversity and inclusion really does include everybody?”
“Well I respect where you’re coming from and I hope to earn your vote, but I’m not going to try to earn your vote by tricking you,” Buttigieg responded. “I am pro-choice and I believe that a woman ought to be able to make that decision. I know that the difference of opinion that you and I have is one that we have come by honestly and the best that I can offer, and it may win your vote, and if not, I understand, the best I can offer is that if we can’t agree on where to draw the line, the next best thing we can do is agree on who should draw the line and in my view it’s the woman who’s faced with that decision in her own life.”
Fox News host Chris Wallace interjected: “This is an interesting moment because President Trump spoke at the March to Life movement, he was the first president ever to actually appear at the March to Life movement, and I’m curious, Kristin, were you satisfied with the answer you got for the mayor?”
“I was not because he did not answer the second part of my question and the second part was: the Democratic platform contains language that basically says that we don’t belong, we have no part in the party, because it says abortion should be legal up to nine months, the government should pay for it, and there’s nothing that says that people have who diversity of views on this issue should be included in the party,” Day responded. “In 1996 and several years after that, there was a language in the Democratic platform that said that we understand that people have very differing views on this issue, but we are a big tent party that includes everybody and so therefore we welcome you, people like me, into the party so we can work on issues that we agree on.”
“So my question was would you be open to language like that in the Democratic platform that really did say that our party is diverse and inclusive and we want everybody?” Day asked.
“Well I support the position of my party, that this kind of medical care needs to be available to everyone, and I support the Roe vs. Wade framework that holds that early in pregnancy there are very few restrictions and late in pregnancy there are very few exceptions, and again the best I can offer is that we may disagree on that very important issue and hopefully we will be able to partner on other issues.”
WATCH:
Called out by Pro-Life Democrat, Buttigieg backs position of Democrat Party to exclude pro-life votershttps://t.co/AwCrai0vF4 pic.twitter.com/TkLrs2DXzx
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 27, 2020