A Donald Trump-supporting group is spending millions in dark money to claim the candidate would defend reproductive rights while brandishing late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s name.
The RBG PAC spent nearly $20 million to boost Trump’s campaign, per FEC filings revealed on Friday.
“He’s been clear– he does not support a federal abortion ban,” an ad from the group claims, despite the former president's refusal to commit to vetoing a national ban.
Tenuous claims on Trump’s abortion positions aside, the group is also using Justice Ginsburg’s name and likeness without permission from her family.
“The RBG PAC has no connection to the Ginsburg family and is an affront to my late grandmother’s legacy,” abortion rights attorney and Ginsburg’s granddaughter Clara Spera said in a statement to the New York Times. “The use of her name and image to support Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and specifically to suggest that she would approve of his position on abortion, is nothing short of appalling.”
Ginsburg herself publicly denounced Trump in an interview with the New York Times prior to his first term.
I can’t imagine what this place would be — I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president," she said at the time. "For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that."
Trump installed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court during his time in office, replacing Ginsburg as well as Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy. That swing toward a conservative 6-3 majority led directly to the axing of nationwide abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade. He has also said he will vote against a ballot measure in his home state of Florida that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution.
Trump’s campaign has sought to toe the line on abortion policy, aiming to appease his religious fundamentalist base while simultaneously duping pro-choice voters, while Kamala Harris has hit Trump hard on abortion, a key issue for voters.
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