Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed during Tuesday night’s presidential debate that Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, supports the “execution” of babies after they are born, repeating earlier false assertions that Democrats support killing babies. 

The Republican nominee made the claim when ABC moderator Linsey Davis asked why he changed his position to support Florida’s six-week abortion ban. 

“Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth — it’s execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born — is OK,” Trump said. 

Infanticide is illegal in every state, and Harris and Walz have never supported it. Here’s what we know about the claim and where Harris and Walz stand on abortion.

A history of false claims

Trump has a history of falsely claiming that Democrats support killing babies after birth. At a recent rally in Charlotte, Trump said Harris supports abortion “right up until birth, and even after birth.”

During the debate, Trump repeated a similar claim and referenced, at different points, the “former governor of Virginia” and the “former governor of West Virginia,” who, Trump asserted, “said we put the baby aside and then we determine what we want to do with the baby.”

Trump appeared to be talking about former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat and a physician, who gave a 2019 radio interview in which he discussed a hypothetical scenario in which a fetus has severe deformities or is not viable outside the womb. In such a case, Northam said, “the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired.” 

The comments sparked fierce backlash from Republicans, including then-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, who accused Northam of supporting “born-alive abortions.” In response, Northam said, “I have devoted my life to caring for children and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting.”

Walz and Harris on abortion

Vice President Harris has supported restoring the standards of Roe v. Wade, which protected the right to an abortion until the fetus reaches viability outside the womb, typically at around six months of gestation. The Biden-Harris administration endorsed the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022, which would have prevented states from banning abortions before viability or requiring additional tests or waiting periods, though the legislation did not pass the Senate.

In recent interviews on “Face the Nation,” both Harris and Walz declined to give specifics about how far into a pregnancy they believe abortions should be permitted.

Asked about it during the debate, Harris said: “I absolutely support reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade. And as you rightly mentioned, nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion. That is not happening.”

As governor, Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Options Act (PRO Act) in 2023, codifying abortion access in Minnesota. It’s one of the few states in the country that does not prohibit abortions past the stage of viability. 

According to the CDC‘s most recent data, less than 1% of abortions nationally occur past 20 weeks of pregnancy. In Minnesota, data from the state Department of Health showed that in 2022, only two abortions occurred between 25 and 30 weeks and none after 30 weeks. Late-term abortions typically occur to save the mother’s life or when families are facing situations where the fetus is unlikely to survive long after birth.

Trump on abortion

Throughout his campaign, Trump has highlighted his appointment of three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, which led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the end of the constitutional right to abortion. 

As president, Trump supported legislation that included a federal 20-week ban on abortion, with some exceptions. However, during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has told reporters he would not sign a federal ban and said each state should be able to restrict abortion as they choose.

Trump said on Aug. 30 that he’ll vote to uphold Florida’s six-week abortion ban. His statement on that came just a day after he criticized the law in an interview and faced blowback from abortion opponents. 

Florida has a proposition on the November ballot to protect abortion rights before fetal viability in the state. It’s one of 10 states where the issue of abortion will be on the ballot.

Washington — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, distanced himself from former President Donald Trump’s false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating people’s pets. 

“This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes,” DeWine told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on Wednesday. 

DeWine said he trusts city officials, who have said they have not received any credible reports of such conduct. 

“Mayor [Rob] Rue of Springfield says, ‘No, there’s no truth in that.’ They have no evidence of that at all. So, I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city, ” DeWine said.

The baseless rumors have been amplified in recent days by Trump and his allies. Trump repeated the claim during Tuesday’s debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. 

“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs — the people that came in — they’re eating the cats,” he said. “They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.” 

Earlier in the week, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, shared the claim on social media, saying, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

DeWine defended the thousands of Haitian migrants who are living in Springfield, but noted there are challenges that come with 15,000 migrants settling in city with a population of less than 60,000 in the last couple of years. 

“These Haitians came in here to work because there were jobs, and they filled a lot of jobs. And if you talk to employers, they’ve done a very, very good job and they work very, very hard,” he said. 

But a lack of health care in Haiti means the local primary health care system needs to be expanded to be able to handle the increase in care, DeWine said. One example he cited was their need for vaccinations. 

The other challenge, he said, is teaching the new arrivals how to drive according to U.S. laws. He said Ohio has a loophole that allows drivers over 18 to pass a test to obtain a license without needing training. 

“The laws in Haiti are very, very different than they are in the United States,” he said. “So the challenge is to get drivers’ training for these individuals so that when they do go on the road, they will be safe.”