Donald Trump, the former President and Republican presidential nominee, participated in a Fox News town hall focused on issues affecting women, which aired on Wednesday morning. During the hour-long event, questions were posed by an all-female audience.
Trump addressed a spectrum of topics including child care, sports involvement of transgender youth, and reproductive rights. Towards the end of the town hall, he acknowledged that certain state abortion laws might be overly stringent following the Dobbs decision. Additionally, he defended previous statements he had made in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where he referred to some Democrats as “the enemy from within” and suggested the potential use of military force against them.
This town hall event was held against the backdrop of a notable gender gap in American electoral preferences. According to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, Vice President Kamala Harris holds a 15-point lead over Trump among women, garnering 57% to Trump’s 42%.
The audience present at the town hall demonstrated significant support for Trump, often responding with loud applause. The event’s host, Harris Faulkner, appeared sympathetic to Trump as well, especially when she criticized Democratic efforts to “prebut” the town hall through a press call held on Tuesday. She also silently shook her head following a clip of Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock from the Democratic call. During the town hall, Trump promoted various campaign promises, such as increasing oil drilling, reducing business taxes, and intensifying immigration enforcement.
Throughout the event, Trump provided vague responses to several questions. When Faulkner inquired about realistic immigration policies he could accomplish with Congress, Trump sidestepped the question, criticizing the immigration record of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris instead. He labeled the U.S. immigration situation as unsustainable and stated that foreign nations view the current administration with ridicule.
Addressing a question about child care costs, Trump discussed expanding the Child Tax Credit during his presidency. However, critics note that much of the benefit from this tax credit went to higher-income families. Trump’s remarks were also unclear on how he planned to further aid with child-rearing costs, mentioning only an intent to lower corporate taxes.
Faulkner also pressed Trump on his previous comments suggesting military action against political adversaries. Trump reiterated that the real threat to the nation comes from within, describing these threats as composed of “radical left lunatics.” He maintained that his statements did not constitute a threat to political opponents and instead portrayed them as a threat to democracy.
A discussion on abortion arose about 50 minutes into the program. When questioned on governmental involvement in women’s autonomy, Trump reiterated his stance of transferring abortion-related decisions to state governments. He noted that some states are adopting more liberal abortion laws, which he seemed to support, while others are not. Trump has previously appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, all of whom voted to rescind Roe v. Wade, thereby ending federal abortion rights protections.
The Harris campaign continues to challenge Trump on reproductive rights. Prior to the town hall, the campaign hosted a call featuring the emotional testimony from the family of Amber Thurman, a woman who died while waiting for reproductive care, highlighting the ramifications of current laws. Harris’s campaign also launched an advertisement spotlighting Hadley Duvall, a victim of incest, underlining the lack of exceptions for rape or incest in several state-imposed abortion bans.
