Donald Trump, known for dodging policy questions with rambling answers, delivered an unusually concise answer Monday when asked about equal pay and reproductive rights.
During an informal Q&A at No Labels’ Problem Solver Convention in Manchester, N.H., the Republican presidential front-runner was confronted by a young female voter eager to ask Trump if he would enact federal equal pay legislation as president and grant women like her the “right to control their bodies.”
“You’re going to make the same if you do as good a job, and I just so happen to be pro-life,” Trump said, appearing rather terse.
The billionaire first addressed his position on wage disparities between men and women in August, during an appearance on MSNBC.
“Women should have absolute access to capital,” Trump told Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, hosts of the network’s morning show, at the time. “If they do the same job, they should get the same pay.”
Trump noted, however, that he would first want to assess whether any existing economic issues are specifically linked to the wage gap before considering any action on federal equal-pay legislation.
“When it comes to categorizing people, men and women into a group, it gets to be very dangerous,” he said. “This is one of the things we have to look at very strongly.”
Trump also said Monday he “respects women tremendously” and is constantly urged to discuss issues specific to female voters by his wife, Melania, and daughter, Ivanka.
“I have given women more opportunity than I would say, virtually anybody in the construction industry,” he said.
The leading GOP candidate is slated to return to Virginia Wednesday for a campaign rally in Richmond, following his current swing through the Granite State.
