By Kevin Liptak | CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday pinned blame squarely on Donald Trump for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, saying the former president is “proud that women are silently suffering” without a guaranteed right to abortion.
“The previous president expressed his intentions quite clearly. And fast forward to just recently, says he’s proud of what he did,” Harris told CNN’s Laura Coates during an exclusive interview in Wisconsin, where the vice president was launching a national tour in support of reproductive rights.
She said the likely Republican nominee relishes his role in new, restrictive abortion laws that have emerged in the aftermath of the high court ruling.
“By inference, he is proud that women have been deprived of fundamental freedoms to make decisions about their own body; by inference, proud that doctors are being penalized and criminalized for providing health care, proud that women are silently suffering because they don’t have access to the health care they need,” Harris added. “So, let’s understand that the stakes are so very high.”
It was a preview of a central reelection argument in a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden, a contest that will be shadowed by the former president’s multiple courtroom trials, including one related to Trump’s role in events that led to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
The vice president rejected outright Trump’s assertions that his legal issues amount to political persecution undertaken by the Biden administration: “What he’s saying is not factual, period,” she said. “And that would not be new for him, would it?”
And Harris said it was imperative Americans remain watchful for signs of democratic erosion in the lead-up to this year’s contest.
“I think everyone is right to be vigilant in demanding that we maintain our democracy. And we uphold its pillars, which includes the integrity of a free and fair election system,” Harris…
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