Ahead of the latest 2024 GOP cattle call at Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride in Iowa, DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake released the following statement: 

“As the 2024 GOP field grows larger by the minute, candidates are using every opportunity to prove they can be the most extreme — from pledging to sign a nationwide abortion ban to vowing to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it. This primary is a race to the bottom for MAGA Republicans, while President Biden and Democrats will continue delivering record accomplishments for the American people and fighting to safeguard their hard-won freedoms.” 

MAGA Republicans want to rip away every woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. 

DeSantis: “Dobbs returned the issue to the elected representatives of the people. And so I think that there’s, there’s role for both the federal and the states.”

Wolf Blitzer: “Would you support a six-week ban nationwide?”

Pence: “Well, of course. Look — I’m pro-life. I don’t apologize for it. I believe that we’ve got to do everything in our power to restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law. And I’d support federal legislation in that regard if I was in the Congress or had any other job here in town.”

Scott: “If I were president of the United States, I would literally sign the most conservative pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress.”

Haley: “Yes, of course I would sign [a federal abortion ban].”

USA Today: “Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he would sign into law a 15-week national abortion ban if he were president, a departure from his previous stance when he said the issue should be left up to individual states.”

2024 Republicans continue to campaign on cutting Social Security and Medicare, essential programs hard working families and America’s seniors rely on. 

CNN: “A CNN KFile review of comments from DeSantis’ 2012 congressional campaign found he repeatedly said he supported plans to replace Medicare with a system in which the government paid for partial costs of private plans or a traditional Medicare plan. In one interview with a local newspaper, DeSantis said he supported ‘the same thing’ for Social Security, citing the need for ‘market forces’ to restructure the program.”

Semafor: “Mike Pence isn’t running from his old fiscal conservatism. Instead, he’s seemingly leaning into it by talking about privatizing Social Security, an idea the party largely abandoned after a politically damaging push in 2005.

“‘I think the day could come where we can replace the New Deal with a Better Deal,’ he said during an interview in February. ‘Literally give younger Americans the ability to take a portion of their Social Security withholdings and put that into a private savings account that the government would oversee.’”

Washington Post: “Other potential entrants in the Republican primary, such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem, also voted for Ryan’s [proposal to cut and privatize Medicare] when they were in Congress.

“‘There’s no doubt that we have to wrestle this beast to the ground and do the right thing,’ Scott said on Fox News in 2012. ‘The fact is that if we don’t start having a real conversation about people in their 40s and younger about the transformation of the system, it won’t be available for folks now in their 20s and 30s.’”

Washington Post: “Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador who is planning to announce her own presidential bid this month, also praised Ryan’s Medicare proposal at the time and said lawmakers should examine Medicare and Social Security spending to address federal debt.”

Some GOP hopefuls refuse to name a single policy difference from Donald Trump or his MAGA agenda.  

Sean Hannity: “Where would you be different on issues than President Trump?”

Pence: “Well, I said early on that the only thing I had decided was that I wasn’t gonna let anybody else make the decision for me. So whether it’s the former president or any other candidate, we’ll make a decision based on what I and my family feel called to do in this moment in the life of the nation.”

Sean Hannity: “What are the differences in terms of policy positions that, for example, you may have with President Trump?”

Scott: “Probably not very many at all. I am so thankful that we had President Trump in office.”Mediaite: “‘Right now, President Trump is the only announced Republican candidate,’ Hannity said. ‘What policy differences do you have with Trump?’ Haley said she had ‘a great working relationship with him’ and dodged the question.”