Former President Trump blamed pro-life Republicans for his party's disappointing 2022 election results on Sunday.
Trump also defended his endorsements, after many people blamed him for GOP losses in the aftermath of the election.
"It wasn't my fault that the Republicans didn't live up to expectations in the midterms. I was 233-20!" Trump said of his midterm endorsements, on Truth Social.
"It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of rape, incest or life of the mother, that lost large numbers of voters," he claimed.
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"Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, and just plain disappeared, not to be seen again," Trump added.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who reinstated the former president to the platform in November, agreed. "Mostly accurate tbh [to be honest]," Musk replied to a screenshot of Trump's social media post.
However, pro-life groups rejected the claim that their positions turned off voters.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America argued instead that Republicans lost because they failed to clearly articulate or contrast their pro-life view with the "extreme" abortion views of Democrats.
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"The approach to winning on abortion in federal races, proven for a decade is this: state clearly the ambitious consensus pro-life position and contrast that with the extreme view of Democrat opponents. We look forward to hearing that position fully articulated by Mr. Trump and all presidential candidates," a SBA List representative shared with Fox News Digital.
The "profound midterm lesson" the group said national candidates should take into the future was "those who adopt the Ostrich Strategy on abortion lose."
Lila Rose, founder of Live Action called Trump "way out of line."
"Trump is way out of line here on life. He does not have a pulse on where his potential base is -- as many believed he has in the past. This kind of nonsense will be a losing political strategy for him," she wrote on Twitter.
Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins said Trump "needs to be corrected" on this view.
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Hawkins argued that candidates who were most vocal about their pro-life positions did well in the midterms.
"This November, leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Budd, and Sen. Marco Rubio, who proudly talked about their pro-life convictions, won in landslides," she said.
Yet those who flip-flopped or were silent on the abortion issue failed, she said.
"Trump-backed politicians like Dr. Mehmet Oz & Blake Masters had challenges clearly defining their convictions," and "failed to win votes," she wrote.
In further tweets Hawkins claimed "virtually every state legislator" who championed "pro-life bills – from Chemical Abortion Pill Regulation to Heartbeat Legislation" were reelected.
Pro-choice organizations were also critical of Trump's statement.
"Donald Trump’s sad attempt to pivot on abortion rights after voters resoundingly rejected the extreme anti-abortion agenda — one that he championed as president and prioritized when nominating three anti-choice Supreme Court justices — is comical," Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, wrote to Fox News Digital.
"As we saw in the midterms, anti-abortion politicians can try to run from their extreme views, but they can’t hide from the truth or their record. We have only begun to see the devastating public health consequences brought on by the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade, which is why abortion will once again be top of mind for voters in 2024 and for years to come," she predicted.
Trump's comments created a strong reaction from both the left and right on Twitter.
Democrat Ted Lieu warned pro-lifers that they would be "disrespecting" themselves to continue to support Trump.
"Dear anti-abortion voters: Trump never believed life began at conception. He was using the abortion issue only to gain power. Now that you’re no longer useful to him, Trump blames you for losing and wants you to shut up. If you still support him, you are disrespecting yourself," he tweeted.
Fox News contributor Ben Domenech claimed the former president's argument didn't match reality.
"Literally zero Republican candidates think abortion should be banned when a mother's life is at risk," he tweeted. He added, that "the most pro-life R incumbent candidates all won! DeSantis, Kemp, Abbott, DeWine, go down the list. And all the Senate candidates who won were super pro-life too."
In follow-up tweets, Domenech blasted Trump as "very dumb" for "betraying the pro-life cause."
During his term, Trump appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court. Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen has said that made him "greatest pro-life president in American history."
The high court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, leaving abortion decisions up to the states to decide. In the November election, voters in several states backed ballot proposals to protect abortion rights.
