Video Of Trump's Horrific Abortion Remarks

During a Wednesday town hall interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was taken to task over his stance on banning abortion rights for women in the United States. While some reporters may have allowed the conversation to slide into Trump's usual blanket discussion of just about any of his controversial positions, Matthews didn't pull any punches. He hounded the businessman until viewers became perfectly clear on his stance on women, abortion, and the "punishment" he said women would deserve for seeking the procedure were it made illegal. (Men, of course, would be off the hook in Trump's nationwide abortion ban scenario.)

Matthews began by telling Trump that he would be unable to "dodge" his questions on abortion — a tactic that he generally pulls off so well that he could have written the book on it. But throughout his presidential campaign, the real estate mogul has said time and time again that he would call for an all-out ban on abortion services. This all-or-nothing approach falls squarely with much of Trump's other policy agendas, but Matthews fairly pointed out that if Trump continues to say that "abortion is crime, or that abortion is murder," then "you have to deal with it under the law." He then goes on to ask, "Should abortion be punished?"

Thus begins the tense back-and-forth between Matthews and Trump. The businessman evokes Matthews' Catholic religion, trying to back the journalist into a corner in terms of his own views. But after this banter, Trump ultimately concedes:

Well, you know, you will go back to a position like they had where people will perhaps go to illegal places, but you have to ban it... The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment [for the woman].

So there you have it: Thanks to this interview, voters now know that Trump believes women should be "punished" for having an abortion.