Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a leading contender to be Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket this fall, said Sunday that he is pro-choice.
“On abortion … women have to be able to choose,” Flynn said. “They are the ones that have to make the decision because they are the ones that are going to decide to bring up that child or not.”
That statement, made on “This Week” during an interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz, could complicate Flynn’s chances of being Trump’s running mate. Trump’s conservatism is suspect among some on the right, and some critics want him to pick a conservative running mate in order to help unify the party.
Flynn, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and previous commander of Joint Special Operations Command, could bring national security expertise to the ticket at a time when Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks have emerged as a serious threat.
“I like the generals,” Trump said last week. “I like the concept of the generals. We’re thinking about — actually, there are two of them that are under consideration.”
But the generals’ apolitical backgrounds raises the possibility of ideological heresies that could alienate GOP voters. Flynn struggled when asked about same-sex marriage, moments after the question about abortion.
“I’m about national security. I’m not going to, you know. … What people do in their private lives, I’m not — these are not big issues that our country’s dealing with that are — that will cause our country to collapse,” he said.
Those answers come at a time when some anti-Trump forces are already attempting to deprive him of the power to pick his running mate at the Republican National Convention. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, wants Trump to pick erstwhile rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
“That would be the only way of getting the party together and getting two guys who got 70 percent of the votes,” Labrador told reporters Thursday.
