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Anti-abortion supporters gather on the National Mall in Washington
Anti-abortion supporters gather on the National Mall in Washington, on Jan. 20. Nathan Posner / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file

Eyes on 2024: Republicans cap off a week devoted to culture wars

House Republicans passed a bill on transgender women and girls in sports, while Republicans remained at odds on abortion.

By and

If there’s one thing that unites this field of prospective GOP presidential hopefuls, it’s the culture wars. 

And with a key social conservative confab on the schedule in Iowa this weekend, the week served as a reminder that the next year will be filled with a healthy dose of identity politics as Republicans look to supercharge the GOP base. 

On Thursday, House Republicans passed bill banning transgender women and girls from competing in female school athletics. Biden will likely veto that legislation even if it somehow passed the Democratic Senate. But the vote teed up yet another clash on the issue that’s made its way into campaign ads and stump speeches across the Republican Party (and after the right has spent weeks criticizing Bud Light for partnering with a transgender spokesperson). 

And Republicans are at odds over abortion, too — just as the Supreme Court is slated to weigh in on whether to uphold a ruling that would ban the medication abortion pill mifepristone. 

Many GOP presidential hopefuls have danced around specifics on how exactly they’ll push to regulate, or restrict, abortion, even as they’ve broadly coalesced around the idea of promoting “pro-life” legislation. But after Trump’s campaign told The Washington Post that he thinks “this is an issue that should be decided at the state level,” the anti-abortion rights group Susan B. Anthony List hammered that position as “morally indefensible.” 

It’s no surprise that a primary leads to candidates jockeying for support among the party’s base before having to moderate in a general election. That’s a tale as old as time for both parties. But the spat on abortion comes as Republicans have lost a slew of high-profile elections where Democrats have sought to frame them as too far to the right on abortion rights. 

In other campaign news…

GOP field grows: Republican talk radio host Larry Elder, who made an unsuccessful run against California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall in 2021, announced Thursday night that he is running for president

Debatable: Republicans will host their second presidential primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Thursday. 

Hey Big(elow) spender: GOP donor Robert Bigelow tells TIME that he has already donated more than $20 million to the Never Back Down, a super PAC boosting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expected presidential bid, pledging to spend more to back DeSantis. 

Endorsement race: Former President Donald Trump picked up another endorsement from a Florida Republican, this time from Rep. Michael Waltz, who represents DeSantis’ old district. Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio tells Semafor that he is not going to get involved in the race “for some time,” noting he has not spoken to DeSantis in “a number of months.” And the New York Times reports on Trump’s “personal touch” in the endorsement race. 

DeSantis on the death penalty: DeSantis signed a bill into law Thursday lowering the threshold to issue the death penalty, which will no longer require a unanimous vote from a jury, the lowest threshold in the country per the New York Times. 

Getting there: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told Fox News he is “close to making a decision” on a presidential run, and he took a dig at DeSantis, saying the governor “seems to struggle with relationships.”

Pardon me: GOP businessman Vivek Ramaswamy pledged that if he wins the presidency, he’ll pardon a pro-Trump social media personality convicted after posting graphics falsely telling Democrats they could text a number to vote from home. 

Schooled: GOP lawyer Cleta Mitchell recently told Republican donors that the party should embrace a strategy to limit voting for college students and voters who cast ballots by mail, the Washington Post reports.  

The Calamari State: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ BOLD PAC is backing Rhode Island Lieutenant Gov. Sabina Matos in the upcoming special election to replace outgoing Democratic Rep. David Cicilline.