In response to RNC Chair Michael Whatley crediting Donald Trump with overturning Roe v. Wade, DNC Rapid Response Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump handpicked an RNC chair in his own image: an anti-choice MAGA extremist who credits Trump with overturning Roe v. Wade. Michael Whatley knows Trump is ‘absolutely’ the reason for draconian abortion bans across the country, and is all-in on helping him regain power and continue to push his dangerous anti-choice agenda. The contrast was clearer than ever at last night’s debate: Vice President Harris will protect the reproductive freedoms that Trump and his MAGA minions are so hellbent on ripping away.”

RNC Chair Michael Whatley credited Donald Trump for “absolutely” overturning Roe v. Wade.

Blake Burman, NewsNation: “So when Kamala Harris tonight potentially looks at Donald Trump and says you are the reason for the overturning of Roe, what does he say?”

Whatley: “Absolutely right.”

Trump loves to brag about how he overturned Roe, paving the way for extreme abortion bans across the country and attacks on IVF access.

Trump: “I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of … Roe v. Wade.”

Trump: “We broke Roe v. Wade and we did something that nobody thought was possible. We gave it back to the states, and the states are working very brilliantly … But they’re working, and it’s working the way it’s supposed to.”

Trump: “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it. … Nobody else was going to get that done but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle.”

Trump: “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone … Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing. Thank you President TRUMP!!!”

Trump: “I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and everybody said that was an impossible thing to do. I put on three Supreme Court justices. Very few people have had that privilege or honor.”

Trump: “Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with. Pro-life had absolutely nothing, being stuck in Roe v. Wade, to negotiate with. … And look, everybody that was president wanted to get rid and tried to get rid of Roe v. Wade … For fifty years, this has been going on. I was able to do it, and I was very honored to do it.”

New York Times: 22 states across the country currently have abortion bans.

New York Times: “[The Alabama Supreme Court ruling on IVF was] made possible by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its 2022 Dobbs decision, which was a result of Mr. Trump’s appointment of three justices.”

The 19th: “RNC approves platform that would give rights to fetuses, endangering abortion, IVF”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Claims Credit for All Abortion Bans”

Fox News: “Trump says he’s ‘proud to be the most pro-life president’ in US history on anniversary of Roe v. Wade overturn”

Business Insider: “Trump boasts he’s ‘proud’ about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue that has become ballot-box poison for Republicans”

Rolling Stone: “Trump Says He’s ‘Proud’ to Have ‘Terminated’ Abortion Rights”

Trump campaign radio ad: “And Trump nominated conservative judges, leading to Roe v. Wade being overturned.”

Whatley is an anti-choice extremist who celebrated the overturning of Roe, called North Carolina’s cruel abortion ban “responsible,” and supported a MAGA platform that could threaten IVF access. 

Raleigh News & Observer: “Michael Whatley, chairman of the N.C. GOP, said he was proud of activism on the part of the anti-abortion movement” [after Roe v. Wade was overturned]

Whatley on North Carolina’s extreme abortion ban: “Well I think it’s a responsible bill, I think that this is a legislative package that is well within the mainstream of North Carolina political thought, it’s going to be supported, these are positions that are widely supported across the state.”

Popular Information: “Trump’s pick for chair of the Republican Party opposes ‘the destruction of human embryos’”

“Under [Whatley’s] leadership, the North Carolina Republican Party has consistently opposed scientific procedures that involve discarding human embryos, saying such actions violate ‘the sanctity of all human life.’ The most recent version of the North Carolina Republican Party Platform, approved in 2022, states that ‘[u]nborn children have constitutional rights to life and liberty and, the government must respect and protect all innocent human life from conception to natural death.’ Specifically, the party opposes ‘the destruction of human embryos.’ A previous version of the platform under Whatley, approved by the North Carolina Republican Party in 2020, contains identical language. … The position of the North Carolina GOP under Whatley on embryos mirrors a recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court.”