Fact check: Trump makes wildly inaccurate claim that ‘all legal scholars’ on ‘both sides’ wanted Roe overturned

Washington CNN —

Former President Donald Trump has accurately boasted that he played a central role in getting the Supreme Court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed abortion rights across the country. But he keeps making wildly inaccurate claims that the court’s 2022decision to rescind Roe had universal support.

In a video statement on abortion policy he posted on social media Monday, Trump said: “I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of something that all legal scholars, both sides, wanted and, in fact, demanded be ended: Roe v. Wade. They wanted it ended.” Later in his statement, Trump said that since “we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint,” states are free to determine their own abortion laws.

It wasn’t clear there whether Trump was using “everybody” to refer to legal scholars in particular or the American public. But in previous statements this year, he has broadly claimed that “everybody,” period, agreed the power to determine abortion law should be returned to individual states.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - APRIL 02: Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign event on April 02, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trump delivered a speech which his campaign has called "Biden's Border Bloodbath", as recent polls have shown that immigration and the situation at the U.S. Southern border continue to be top issues on voters' minds going into the November election. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Related article Trump says abortion legislation should be left to states

Facts First: Trump’s claim that “all legal scholars” wanted Roe overturned is not even close to true; many wanted Roe preserved, as several legal scholars reiterated in Monday