Former President Donald Trump’s comments about the 2024 presidential race, his abortion stance, and his ever-increasing poll numbers during two campaign stops in Iowa this week may indicate that post-Labor Day, Trump is gearing his campaign toward a general election that is focused on defeating President Joe Biden next year as opposed to relitigating the 2020 election or directly engaging his GOP competitors.
Trump has consistently pushed supporters at “Caucus Commitment” events to turn out voters during the make-or-break Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, part of a strategic effort of his to barnstorm Iowa, including five more campaign events in the Hawkeye State over the next six weeks. He later stood by his previous remarks that six-week abortion bans enacted by Republicans, including his top rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), were a “terrible thing.”
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At a campaign stop in Dubuque, Iowa, on Wednesday, he warned that abortion restrictions that exclude extenuating circumstances such as rape, incest, or the health of the mother may harm the GOP in further elections. “Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win elections. We would probably lose the majorities in 2024 without the exceptions, and perhaps the presidency itself,” Trump said.
His efforts to dominate the first-in-the-nation caucuses, along with his refusal to bow to external pressures to support a feder …