GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie took aim Sunday at Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel for suggesting that abortion is more than a state’s issue.
NBC’s Kristen Welker pressed Christie on “Meet the Press” over McDaniel’s abortion comments on the show last week, where she said “there’s a lot of discussion to be had, but we can’t just say it’s a state’s issue and be done.” Christie pushed back on these remarks, saying “every state and its people should make its own judgment on this issue.”
“I want the American people to decide. That’s the right way to make this judgment. And with all due respect to Ronna, she’s not running for president, and she’s never governed. So she doesn’t know how hard these choices are and how you have to interact with people,” Christie said.
Christie said during the third GOP presidential debate earlier this month that the issue of abortion should be left to the states, avoiding the question of whether Congress should consider a 15-week abortion ban at the federal level.
He also suggested earlier this year that Americans shouldn’t worry about a possible federal abortion ban if he were elected president. He echoed similar comments during Sunday’s episode of “Meet the Press,” declining to answer whether he would support a six-week abortion ban.
Welker also asked him whether he would have signed a six-week ban when he was governor of New Jersey — a question that Christie labeled as “ridiculous.” He said that with a Democratic-controlled Legislature, “no ban would’ve come to my desk.”
When pushed further on whether he would back a six-week ban, he dodged answering the question.
“Kristen, I have said my position on this, which is that every state and its people should make its own judgment on this issue,” Christie said. “I have governed as a pro-life governor in New Jersey, and I believe in the sanctity of human life. But I am not going to get into this media game of six weeks, 12 weeks, 15 weeks, 20 weeks.”