Many eyebrows were raised by reports of a quiet word from the White House to the Justice Department concerning the pace of litigation aimed at restricting or even outlawing distribution of abortion pills. The word was “wait”:

The White House has instructed the Justice Department to move slowly on any abortion-related actions ahead of the midterm elections, The Washington Sun has learned.In a series of discussions, senior White House officials, led by White House chief of staff Susan Wiles, directly delivered the message to Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to a senior administration official not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Wiles suggested that an aggressive approach on abortion would generate unwanted attention, something the officials worried could alienate voters ahead of the November elections.

The White House has instructed the Justice Department to move slowly on any abortion-related actions ahead of the midterm elections, The Washington Sun has learned.

In a series of discussions, senior White House officials, led by White House chief of staff Susan Wiles, directly delivered the message to Attorney General Todd Blanche, according to a senior administration official not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Wiles suggested that an aggressive approach on abortion would generate unwanted attention, something the officials worried could alienate voters ahead of the November elections.

This is a familiar bit of advice from Team Trump to Republicans who might otherwise bend to the wishes of the anti-abortion activists who make up an important part of the GOP/MAGA base. After all, in the eyes of said activists, every abortion is a homicide, and stopping this “Holocaust” is essentially why they are in politics. But Trump himself famously blamed anti-abortion zealotry for GOP underperformance in the 2022........

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