Top GOP contenders Jeb Bush and Donald Trump were put on the spot to explain their positions on abortion during the first Republican primary debate Thursday night.
Trump was asked during the Fox News debate to explain why he said in 1999 he was “strongly pro-choice.” He responded that he hates the “concept” of abortion and said that his thinking on the subject has evolved since his prior statements.
Trump said that a friend of his was going to abort a child but then did not, and that child “is a total superstar. I saw other instances and I am very proud to say that I am pro-life.”
Meanwhile, Bush came under fire for his time on the board of a charity that gave millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood. Republicans are fervently trying to defund the women’s health organization after a series of undercover videos showed the organization’s selling of aborted fetal body parts.
The charity in question was the Bloomberg Foundation, created by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bush was on the board until late 2014, when he started to more seriously flirt with a White House run.
Bush said that he was on the board because of the foundation’s commitment to education.
“We never had a debate about the budget,” Bush said. “It was presented and we approved it.”
He said that they didn’t go line by line and debate over every budget item.
Bush quickly pivoted to his time as governor of Florida, where he said that he worked to create “a culture of life in our state.”
Bush has taken heat over the issue recently, saying that he supported defunding the organization’s $500 million it receives from the federal government. He said that he wasn’t sure “we need half a billion for women’s health issues,” according to CBS News.
