Trump claimed 'babies can be killed after birth' and called for ban on transgender athletes, stoking culture wars at Arizona rally

• Donald Trump made provocative comments about abortion and transgender people at a rally in Arizona.
• He falsely claimed that Democratic politicians say that "babies can be killed even after birth."

Former President Donald Trump stoked the culture wars at a rally in Florence, Arizona on Saturday, making provocative comments about the Democratic party's stances on transgender people and abortion.

"We're done taking lectures on science from a party that tells us men and women, women are men, and the babies… and this is a fact, the babies can be killed even after birth," Trump said.

"They used to talk late-term, now they're talking about… just go check out your governor of Virginia, your former governor of Virginia, and it's all just fine with them, babies can be killed after birth."

Trump was likely referring to disproved allegations that then-Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam promoted infanticide in an interview in 2019.

In the interview, Northam spoke about cases where a fetus might be nonviable, or severely deformed, and what might happen after birth.

A spokesperson for Northam clarified to Vox at the time that the "governor had 'absolutely not' been referring to the euthanasia of infants born after a failed abortion."

Abortion has long been a hot-button issue to voters, particularly Republicans, and Republican state legislators around the country have passing increasingly restrictive abortion laws.

While still a private citizen, Donald Trump was once vocal about his pro-choice chance, but said he ultimately changed his mind and became anti-abortion.

Trump also made multiple references to transgender people at the Arizona rally, including his claims that the Democratic party says "men and women, women are men."

Elsewhere in his speech, Trump promised to "ban men from participating in women's sports."

Whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women's sports has recently become a lightning-rod issue.

Trump's comments about transgender people reflect his approach towards transgender rights during his time as president, which the Biden administration has described as discriminatory.

His administration banned transgender service members from joining the US military, which President Joe Biden later overturned.