A week after a
flub where he initially said
women should be punished for getting abortions if they become illegal, GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump backed out on a call to a group of pro-life Catholics,
Politico reports.
Trump was scheduled to address Priests for Life at the pro-life 115 Forum on Wednesday, according to the website, but did not call in.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump had never intended to call in, saying it was the first she had heard of it.
"He is not attending or joining," Hicks told Politico.
The Rev. Frank Pavone, who heads up Priests for Life, did not address the campaign's assertion that the call wasn't scheduled.
"Throughout the election season, many conversations and meetings occur between pro-life leaders and candidates. Some of these are public and others are off the record," Pavone told Politico. "What I can say is that Priests for Life carries out efforts to provide all campaigns an opportunity to connect with the pro-life leadership in America and to receive solid advice on how to deal with abortion."
The Daily Beast said a conservative activist with knowledge of the planned call said the pro-life leaders were disappointed Trump did not call.
"To me, that's just typical Donald Trump," Operation Rescue President and Ted Cruz supporter Troy Newman, told The Daily Beast. "We just don't know exactly what he believes or who he is."
Pavone, in his response to Politico, chose to focus on the Democratic candidates' positions.
"As for Donald Trump, I far prefer the kind of mistake he made recently, and then corrected, regarding who should be punished, than the ongoing deliberate mistake of [Hillary] Clinton and [Bernie] Sanders, who cannot seem to find an abortion they don't like," Pavone said.
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