Donald Trump’s abortion stance has an unexpected new critic - his wife, Melania

As Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance continue to comment on abortion rights for US citizens – with the latter claiming in his debate with Democrat opponent Tim Walz this week he “never supported a national abortion ban” when he very much did back in 2022 – an unlikely individual has come out in favour of a woman’s right to choose: Melania Trump.

While Mr Trump - who appointed Supreme Court judges who overturned Roe v Wade - has apparently shifted his abortion stance to say he will veto a nationwide abortion ban (according to Vance), Melania said in a video on Thursday (October 3) that “individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard”.

“Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom,” she said.

“What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean,” she comments in the clip, used to promote her upcoming memoirMelania, out next Thursday (October 10).

According to an advance copy obtained by The Guardian, Ms Trump writes: “Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?

“A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”

Rather awkwardly, Republicans have turned on the wife of the party’s presidential nominee, with Kristan Hawkins of the anti-abortion organisation Students for Life of America slamming the ex-first lady’s “wrong” and “anti-feminist” stance on the medical procedure.

“I won’t be buying Melania’s book,” she declared.

Conservative commentator Allie Stuckey was just as scathing, writing on Twitter/X that Ms Trump’s position is “disgusting” and “incoherent”.

Mr Trump himself has since commented on his wife’s remarks, telling Fox News: “We spoke about it, and I said, ‘you have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell you what to do’.

“I said, ‘you have to stick with your heart’.”

And that hasn’t exactly gone down well on Twitter/X, with users noting the hypocrisy in allowing Melania a choice while telling other women what to do with their bodies.

Ms Trump announced her memoir last month and the news was immediately met with ridicule online, with many using her own words against her by responding with “I really don’t care, do you” – a message she was pictured wearing on a green jacket during a trip to a migrant child detention centre back in 2018.

In that video, Melania said she had been the subject of “public scrutiny and misrepresentation” and that she believed it was “important to share my perspective. The truth”.

Ms Trump has long been the subject of conspiracy theories and speculation around her relationship with her spouse, with discussion on social media over the years concerning a potential divorce, a “body double”, ‘secret messages’ in Tweets and a number of public appearances showing her frowning and rejecting Trump’s attempts to hold her hand – all claiming to point to a rift between the couple.

It appears Melania wants to address that in the memoir but her different position on abortion to that of her husband must be fairly tricky…

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