Michigan Governor Whitmer calls Trump's abortion stance 'baloney' and insists you 'can't trust him' after he told TIME states could 'monitor pregnancies'

Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer put Donald Trump on blast over abortion rights ahead of his visit to her state, calling his stance 'baloney' as he attempts to navigate the contentious issue which has become a political landmine in the 2024 election. 

The Republican presidential candidate is headed to the battleground state for a rally on Wednesday. 

It is his first campaign rally since the hush money trial began nearly three weeks ago in New York and comes after he told TIME Magazine in an interview he would let red states monitor pregnancies, saying 'I think they might do that.'

In that same interview, Trump declined to commit to vetoing federal restrictions on abortion if they came to his desk and said it was 'irrelevant' whether he was comfortable with states prosecuting women who have abortions 'because the states are going to make those decisions.'

'You cannot trust what Donald Trump says when it come to abortion rights. He and all three of his appointees to the United States Supreme Court lied to Congress and lied to the American people,' Whitmer told reporters on Wednesday. 

'They went and reversed Roe v Wade and that is exactly why we've got chaos across the country with different rights for different people,' she said. 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer at a roundtable on reproductive rights in Flint, MI ahead of Donald Trump's visit to the state on Wednesday

Whitmer was joined at the event put on by the Biden campaign by a doctor, advocates, a veteran and students

In a cover interview with TIME, Trump said he would let red states 'monitor' pregnancies and declined to commit to vetoing a bill restricting abortion should it make it to his desk if he is reelected

Abortion has proven to be a motivating issue for voters to cast ballots for Democrats in recent elections including in Michigan.

Exit polling in the  battleground state for the 2022 midterm showed it as the top issue in the election. Michigan voters that year reelected Whitmer and enshrine the right to an abortion in their state constitution. 

Whitmer was in Flint, MI ahead of Trump's visit for a roundtable on reproductive rights set up by the Biden reelection campaign on which Whitmer is a co-chair.

At the same time, Florida's six week abortion ban went into effect on Wednesday. Democrats around the country have been speaking out on abortion including Vice President Kamala Harris who is traveling to Jacksonville, FL. 

In his TIME interview, Trump said there would 'never be that chance' on whether he would veto a federal abortion restrictions bill make it to his desk because it would need 60 Senate votes to pass.  

'You're never going to have 60 votes. You're not going to have it for many, many years, whether it be Democrat or Republican,' Trump said, sidestepping the question.

'No one should take any comfort in the fact that yes he wants an abortion ban, but he won't get it because he doesn't think we'll have 60 votes in the Senate. Baloney!' Whitmer responded. 'No one would have imagined we'd be here in this moment.'

She warned that access to abortion is 'very much in jeopardy' even in states like Michigan which passed an abortion rights law last year along with the ballot initiative in the midterms.

Trump at a really in Schnecksville, PA on April 13. His visit to Michigan on Wednesday will be his first campaign rally since his hush money trial began

Trump had been looking to defuse the issue for Republicans ahead of the November election in recent weeks. 

He announced his stance is to leave the issue to states earlier this month. 

That same week the Arizona Supreme Court ruled a 1864 law banning nearly all abortion including in cases of rape and incest in the state could be enforced. 

The ex-president has also taken heat from anti-abortion rights groups and some Republican lawmakers who have put pressure on the Republican nominee to support federal restrictions.  

At his most recent rally in Pennsylvania before the hush money trial got underway, Trump notably did not mention the overturning of Roe v Wade at all, something he has previously touted at numerous campaign events. 

Democrats have put Republican on defense across the country over abortion ahead of November.

'Trump is worried the voters will hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he created. He’s right. Trump ripped away the rights and freedom of women in America,' President Biden said in a statement on the Florida six-week ban taking effect on Wednesday. 

Trump once called the Florida law a 'mistake.' But anti-abortion advocates praised the Florida six-week ban on Wednesday. 

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser called it an 'enormous victory for women and children, set to protect 50,000 lives a year starting today.'

Pro-abortion rights advocates marching against Florida's six-week abortion ban which takes effect on Wednesday. Advocates have collected enough signatures for an abortion rights measure on the November ballot in the state

In Michigan, Whitmer called on Republican and Independent voters who supporter abortion access in the battleground state in the midterms to join her again this election year. She said work is not done. 

Whitmer was joined by several women at her roundtable including family medicine physician Dr. Aisha Harris who said 'tying the doctors hands behind their backs when they want to provide something is not going to be safe for people.'