Donald J. Trump — the J stands for “jerkwad,” right? — is fighting for his life out on the political playing field, and he’s finally starting to lose.
Any compassionate person with a lick of sense caught on to ol’ Don’s game a long time ago, but through countless controversies, unceasing legal trials, sexual misconduct suits, an utterly disastrous term as president, and so much more, somehow Trump has managed to hang on to a solid supporter base. That includes a good chunk of Repubicans in Congress, many of whom traded out their dignity for a MAGA hat years ago.
Trump’s many (MANY) bad decisions are finally catching up to him, however, and some of those supporters are catching wise to his schemes. The 77-year-old skid mark of a former president isn’t seeing much pushback for the numerous felony counts he currently faces, nor for the recent guilty verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing author E. Jean Carroll, but he is finally facing consequences for the decisions he made as president.
Well, one decision, at least. He’s still not getting nearly the flack he deserves for costing thousands of American lives during the COVID-19 pandemic or for doing longstanding damage to our alliances, but he is in the hot seat over his contributions to the 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade, which saw the bulk of Americans lose their access to abortion.
The fight to control women’s bodies has been ongoing since essentially the first day a woman found her power in this country, but in 1973 a landmark decision put the right to choose in a child-bearer’s hands. That decision persisted for nearly 50 years before Republicans, endorsed by Trump, stuck their grubby fingers in a longstanding precedent and stripped American citizens of a long-held right. It was a massively unpopular decision, and its led to far more pushback than Republicans clearly anticipated.
The vast majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances — 85%, according to a recent Gallup poll — and, as they find their rights increasingly limited in certain states, the American public is starting to truly turn on the decision. Support for Trump and his sycophants is hemorrhaging in states with the strictest abortion laws, but no amount of backpedaling can undo their mistake. Arizona recently approved a near-total ban on abortion, and as a result the state may just be swinging left.
Barrett Marson, an Arizona-based GOP strategist, told Politico on April 11 that, ahead of the unpopular abortion decision, “Arizona leaned Trump.” Following the harsh abortion restrictions, however, he now sees Arizona leaning toward Biden. Its a surprise, but not a big one, considering just how unpopular the abortion restrictions are proving.
Trump, desperate to regain the popularity he once boasted, is working hard to come across as middle of the road, despite previously gloating about his role in appointing the three justices who helped overturn Roe. He claimed, in a recent interview, that the abortion ban is about “states rights,” but clearly didn’t expect the surprisingly on-point clapback from President Biden himself. The 81-year-old Commander in Chief responded to a clip of Trump’s assertion with a simple, resounding truth, informing the disgraced former president that “No, Donald—it’s about women’s rights.”
Biden is exactly right, and those women — along with the people who support their right to control their own bodies — are prepped to voice their opinion where it counts: In the voting booths. They’re angry — and rightfully so — and that anger is starting to make Republicans sweat. And sweat they should, because their bad decisions are coming back to haunt them in the shape of a million scorned women, and you know how the saying goes: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
