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2 days ago, Twitter user Todd Dracula shared a video from a Donald Trump speech, which can be found at https://twitter.com/ToddDracula/status/954410865993879558.

In it, the President appears to claim:

Right now, in a number of states, the law allow a baby to be born from his or her mother's womb in the 9th month. It is wrong, it has to change.

Does this video show a real and unaltered fragment from a Donald Trump speech in which he claims that carrying a baby to the normal 9 month term is wrong? Some of the replies to the tweet say Trump said torn, but it really sounded like he said born.

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  • Note: I am not sure whether the Donald Trump tag is correct on this question, because this is both a claim ABOUT Donald Trump and a claim about something Donald Trump has claimed. If this or any other tag is not applicable to this question, feel free to edit it out.
    – Nzall
    Commented Jan 21, 2018 at 21:01
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    "it really sounded like he said born" - Wait, so you have heard the video for yourself? What is left to answer?
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 15:48
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    @Oddthinking I have seen the video myself. The question I had was whether the video was not tampered with, either by entire fabrication or through clever audio manipulation.
    – Nzall
    Commented Jan 22, 2018 at 16:34
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    Trump is clearly referring to late term abortions as proposed in Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island that would allow abortions at 9 months, and in some cases during or after birth.
    – user36356
    Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 19:18

1 Answer 1

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Yes

Multiple relatively unbiased sources have both video and transcripts of this line, often with a correction:

Right now, in a number of states, the laws allow a baby to be born [torn] from his or her mother’s womb in the ninth month. It is wrong; it has to change.

The Hill, “FULL SPEECH: Addressing March for Life, Trump touts gains in anti-abortion policy”

There’s also full videos of his speech that contain this line, even from fairly conservative news outlets.

That said, the implied claim in some presentations of this video is that Trump does not understand how long the average pregnancy is, and that he thinks, as you say, that carrying a baby to term is wrong. This isn’t necessarily the case: more likely, he simply misspoke.

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    From context, it really looks like it is just a misspoke, as right before this sentence, he is speaking about late-term abortions that are in some states of US legal up to 9th month of pregnancy. Short answer should be "No". Yes, he said that but he is not claiming that. At least, it is reasonable to consider it is just a misspoke. It also does not make any sense to make this claim in that context. And Nzall asks, whether Trump claims that in that video and not whether he said that.
    – Reconquistador
    Commented Jan 21, 2018 at 21:28
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    @Reconquistador "misspoke" is a verb.
    – Acccumulation
    Commented Jan 21, 2018 at 22:00
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    @Acccumulation I think he just misspoke
    – PC Luddite
    Commented Feb 15, 2018 at 2:47
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    It took me quite a while to 'get' this, requiring me to search external sources to realise that he perhaps didn't blunder the date but allegedly the verb. It might help to compare the actual slip 'born/torn' and what would be meant with 'torn' at the mentioned dates. That said, your 'implied claim' has by now a face validity of close to 100, so a clarification might not only help but almost be in order?
    – LangLаngС
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 10:56

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