Republican strategist Matt Gorman tried to claim that abortion is not a top four issue and he was shredded by Yamiche Alcindor and Claire McCaskill.
Video:
WATCH: @mattsgorman tells the panel abortion “is not in the top four of issues.” @Yamiche and @clairecmc fiercely disagree.@Yamiche: “Abortion comes up 90% of the time” on the campaign trail.@clairecmc: It “infuriates women when they hear that.” pic.twitter.com/MR8jHQAnyz
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 11, 2022
Transcript via Meet The Press:
CHUCK TODD:
Yes, do you think the GOP’s got to change how they’re talking about this?
MATT GORMAN:
I don’t think it’s an issue in 2020 at all. I mean, I talk to Republicans every day who see these internal polls. It is not in the top four of issues. Even look at your poll last month. It was 8%. It was under climate change as an issue.
CHUCK TODD:
Don’t you think that democracy, though, is sharing some of those – that those who concerned about the abortion decision, maybe are in the democracy category?
MATT GORMAN:
I don’t know how the question was phrased, but I think with abortion and threats to democracy, we tend to connote it with, “Okay, that’s Democratic base, angry at Trump, or it’s pro-choice, angry at the decision.” Not necessarily the case. That could be a single-issue voter on abortion who’s so thankful, you know, pro-life, or folks in the Republican base think Biden’s on the way to socialism.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR:
I can just say that, as someone who’s been out on the campaign trail, even if you ask a voter right now about health care or about the state of democracy, abortion comes up 90% of the time. And I think that to say it’s not an issue I think is very interesting to hear because, just as someone who’s out there reporting, abortion is absolutely an issue, along with inflation, along with the threat –
MATT GORMAN:
It’s not borne out in data. It’s just not. It’s not borne out in data.
CLAIRE McCASKILL:
I hope, I hope, I hope Matt keeps saying that everywhere he goes, that abortion really isn’t an issue in this election. I think that is exactly what infuriates women when they hear that. You’re asked in a poll what’s the most important issue, you may not be comfortable saying abortion. But if you say to a woman, “We are now in your state,” like they are in my state, forcing incest victims to give birth, when you are having doctors having to make life and death decisions around whether they go to prison or whether they take care of their patient, that is motivating voters, and it will in November.
Republicans Are Ignoring The Evidence On Abortion
Republicans are delusional if they truly believe that abortion is not a top-four issue. In special election after special election, Democrats have performed well because pro-choice voters are turning out to support them.
The GOP continues to stick to the game plan of talking about inflation, but the election has shifted beneath them, and they are convincing themselves that everything is fine.
Republicans are setting themselves up for an election day disaster because they are refusing to acknowledge what is happening around them.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association