Trump says he will ‘never advocate’ for contraception restrictions after earlier saying he’s ‘looking at’ them

Donald Trump insisted in a social media post Tuesday that he has "never, and will never advocate imposing restrictions on birth control or other contraceptives," after an interview released hours earlier included Trump saying he’s “looking at” restrictions on contraception.

The post came after Trump said in an interview with a local TV station in Pittsburgh that he plans to share a policy on contraception “very shortly,” without providing details.

“We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly and I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting,” Trump told KDKA political analyst Jon Delano when asked if he supported any restrictions on a person’s right to contraception.

KDKA declined to tell POLITICO when the interview was recorded, but the Biden campaign released video of the exchange on Tuesday.

Trump added in the interview, “you will find it very smart. I think it’s a smart decision.”

In his social media post later Tuesday afternoon, Trump denied ever suggesting that he would impose restrictions on birth control.

“This is a Democrat fabricated lie, MISINFORMATION/DISINFORMATION, because they have nothing else to run on except FAILURE, POVERTY, AND DEATH,” Trump wrote in the post. “I DO NOT SUPPORT A BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL, AND NEITHER WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!”

Reproductive rights have taken center stage during the 2024 election, as abortion has been left to the states to decide after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court is also set to rule on a case that would restrict access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone.

Biden campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement after the TV interview was released that “it’s clear [Trump] wants to go even further” in restricting access to reproductive rights if elected for a second term.

“It's not enough for Trump that women's lives are being put at risk, doctors are being threatened with jail time, and extreme bans are being enacted with no exceptions for rape or incest,” Chitika said in the statement. “He wants to rip away our freedom to access birth control too.”

In the past, Trump has weighed in on abortion restrictions, including last month when he said Arizona went “too far” when the state Supreme Court upheld a 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions. Arizona lawmakers later repealed the law.

During interviews last month with TIME , Trump said he’d be making an announcement about his policy on mifepristone “over the next week or two.”

“I am for helping women,” Trump told TIME. “You probably saw that the IVF came out very well. And, you know, I set a policy on it, and the Republicans immediately adopted the policy.”

The interviews took place on April 12 and April 27. Trump has yet to reveal his mifepristone policy.

The Republican also told TIME that issues of prosecuting people for abortions or monitoring pregnancies should be left up to the states. He had previously released a video on social media where he declined to endorse a federal abortion ban.

“You don’t need a federal ban,” he told TIME.