MSNBC hosted a town hall with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday. Host Chris Matthews asked the presumptive GOP nominee whether women should be punished for having abortions. At first, Trump tried deflecting. “It’s a problem we have to decide on,” he said. “But you’re for banning it,” followed Matthews. “You say you want to ban it. What’s that mean?” “I am pro-life, yes,” replied Trump. “How do you ban abortion?” asked an unsatisfied Matthews. “How do you actually do it?”
Trump, who has seen sinking poll numbers with women voters, then suggested the country should ban abortions even if it means a return to unsafe “back alley” procedures. “You’ll actually go back to a position like they had where people will perhaps go to illegal places,” Trump said. “But you have to ban it.”
After Trump tried to steer the conversation to how Matthews feels about abortion as a Catholic, the MSNBC host again asked if women who have abortions should be punished. “The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment,” the businessman said. “For the woman?” inquired Matthews. “Yeah, there has to be some form,” Trump answered.
The death knell starts.