Melania just exposed MAGA for straying from its conservative principles: ex-GOP strategist

Former First Lady Melania Trump's new defense of abortion rights in her upcoming memoir signals something far more significant about a growing tension in the Republican Party, said former GOP strategist Maura Gillespie on CNN Thursday morning.

Specifically, it represents a growing realization in some corners of the party that they have strayed far afield from their original core values of freedom for all, said Gillespie, who served as a press adviser for former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

"She says, 'A woman's fundamental right of individual liberty, her own life, grants or the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes. It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy and deciding their preference of having children ... free from any intervention or pressure from the government,'" said anchor John Berman. "Okay, 12-dimensional chess here, where you think that Melania Trump is in cahoots with the Trump campaign trying to muddy the waters on abortion, or just something she doesn't care what her husband thinks about?"

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Gillespie argued that it's not even just Melania — the conflict is even evident within the Trump ticket itself.

"I think that you saw J.D. Vance change his tune at the VP debate, trying to talk about abortion, because if we have to build back trust," said Gillespie. "Women — I don't know that people necessarily believe it, given the fact that he has been on record for saying that he would endorse a national ban."

"I think what she's saying here to me, and I've long believed, is it is a conservative message is to say that you don't want the federal government telling me, telling you what you can do with your own body," said Gillespie. "That goes too a conservative belief of having a smaller, more accountable government. Yet the Republican Party has let it become so much so just a religious issue and feeding into the far-right fringe as opposed to what the, most of the country believes, which is the stance that we should have autonomy over our body and medical freedom for half the population."

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