Warren slams Trump for trying to have it 'both ways' on IVF

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed former President Trump for trying to have it “both ways” on in vitro fertilization (IVF), accusing him of changing his rhetoric on the issue depending on which crowd he is addressing. 

“So when he thinks he's talking to his radical base, he says, how radical do you need for me to be,” Warren said during her Saturday appearance on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” 

“And Donald Trump will go there and go further,” she continued. “But when he's talking to the overwhelming majority of Americans who very much oppose that radical approach to abortion and IVF, he tries to change his tune, and then is shocked when each side now is starting to call him out on that.” 

“He wants to turn around and say he's going to support IVF," she said on Saturday. "Are you kidding me? He also supports and it's also there in his platform that IVF will effectively be banned all across the United States. Sorry, Donald, can't have it both ways."

Trump said on Thursday that if he wins in November, his administration would protect IVF and it would ensure the treatment is paid for by either the government or insurance companies. 

“So, we’re going to be paying for that treatment, or we’re going to be mandating that the insurance companies pay,” he said. 

Warren, a former presidential candidate, said that the ex-president does not have principles and that, in part, is why women voters do not trust him. 

“And I think that this is what the Vice President meant by not a serious man,” she said. “There's no principle here for him, other than does it help Donald Trump? That is his single guiding principle, and American women are just flat calling him out on that and saying we are not going to trust Donald Trump.” 

Trump received criticism from Vice President Harris’ campaign following his remarks. The scrutiny also came from Gwen Walz, the wife of vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who said that Trump helped overturn Roe v. Wade and that he is putting access to IVF at risk. 

“So here are the facts and there aren’t any alternatives to these,” she said. “Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe and put access to IVF at risk. That’s a fact. And he’s running on a platform that puts these treatments at risk nationwide and that’s a fact.”

“But he knows that position is wildly unpopular and guess what? That’s a fact,” she added. 

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) questioned Friday how Trump’s proposal for IVF would be funded. 

“I haven’t talked to him all the way through with it,” Mullin said on CNN. “I think there’s … going to be an issue on how you pay for it. There’s always that issue.”

The Hill has reached out to Trump's campaign for comment.