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One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and ended the enshrined right to seek an abortion, Christian conservatives convened in Washington DC to size up the GOP’s leading 2024 candidates. The Faith and Freedom Coalition held its Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton over the weekend, where every major Republican 2024 candidate appeared to try to win over the crucial evangelical wing of the party. Former president Donald Trump closed out the event on Saturday evening; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former vice president Mike Pence; former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy also made their case to social conservatives. Last year’s Dobbs v Jackson decision has caused a split among Republicans. Some have said that the Supreme Court’s decision likely cost Republicans the opportunity to win the majority in the Senate as the GOP failed to flip a single seat, and Republicans only won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. An NBC News poll showed that 61 per cent of Americans disapprove of the Dobbs decision, with 80 per cent of women between the ages of 18 and 49 and two-thirds of suburban women saying that they disapproved of it. But Republican candidates did not reflect any anxiety about the decision in their remarks to the crowd of Christian conservatives who consider abortion to be murder. “We have to start with tomorrow’s anniversary and thank God Almighty for the Dobbs decision,” Mr Scott said in his speech. “We are creating a culture of life in America, and that’s a really good thing.” Mr Pence, an ardent social conservative, said Dobbs was only the beginning. “Now some you will hear from at this very podium will say that the Supreme Court returned to the issue of abortion only to the states and nothing could be done at the federal level,” he said. He also criticised Republicans for saying some abortion legislation was “too harsh.” “Some have even gone on to blame the overturning of Roe v Wade for election losses in ‘22,” he said. “But let me say from my heart, the cause of life is the calling of our time and we must not rest and must not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in this country.” In turn, Mr Pence called for passing a national 15-week abortion ban. But many attendees said they preferred to leave abortion to the states. “It’s a state issue, I think it ought to stay a state issue,” Gay Dillard told The Independent. Ms Haley called herself “unapologetically pro-life,” but said that people needed to not “demonise” the issue.” Ms Haley said she thought there was a place for a federal law restricting abortion, but noted it would require a House majority and 60 Senate seats to overcome a filibuster. As a result, she talked about reducing late-term abortions, focusing on adoption and foster care. “We have one goal: To save as many babies as possible and protect as many mothers as possible,” she said, something Ms Dillard repeated. “We need to just make sure we have enough support, emotionally, physically, financially, to support women who do choose,” she said. “So it’s not just about having, not having an abortion, it’s about if they keep their baby. We have to embrace them and help and help surround them.” Max Fisher, a candidate for state legislature in Virginia, said that the focus should be on increasing options. “So make sure that adoption is an option on the table and make sure that people have the information that they need to make sure that they’re not doing, like, you go to a bar and get drunk and then you make bad decisions,” he said. “It’s the same reason why you can’t get a tattoo when you’re drinking. Make sure that you have all of the information that you have available in order to make a well-educated choice for yourself from whether that’s adoption, whether or not as another decision, but that’s entirely up to the individual.” Despite the fact that Mr Trump nominated three of the Supreme Court justices in the majority on Dobbs, the former president has at times not fully embraced the anti-abortion decision. The “too harsh” criticism that Mr Pence cited was how Mr Trump characterised Mr DeSantis’s six-week abortion ban in Florida. In fact, Mr Trump refrained from supporting any new abortion restrictions during his closing address to the conference, but instead focused on attacking Democrats. “I will continue to stand proudly for pro-life policies just as I did for four strong years,” he said. “They are the radical extremists.” Ken Cuccinelli, who runs the Never Back Down Super PAC that supports Mr DeSantis, said the Florida governor is more sufficiently pro-life. “Well, for one, he has a central core belief system that supports faith and, and you can see it reflected in policies like his pro-life stance,” he told The Independent, noting how Mr DeSantis supported abortion restrictions as a member of Congress and implemented them as governor. “He signed the heartbeat bill, while the resident is condemning it. And that’s still the biggest issue here to these voters. And then the cultural battle that these voters care about.” But Mr Trump mentioned that his actions with judges will give Republicans more power. “You have tremendous negotiating power now,” he said. “We've now given pro-life people tremendous power to negotiate something that will be happy, that will be good for everybody and you have power for the first time.” Read More Trump news – live: Trump’s legal team handed over tapes to Jack Smith as MAGA loyalists turn on each other Trump takes credit for overturning of Roe v Wade while raising questions about DeSantis’ six-week ban Chris Christie defiant as conservative crowd boos Trump criticism Trump quietly changes political fundraising site to funnel funds toward legal woes Trump celebrates anniversary of anti-abortion ruling as he tells religious crowd ‘I’m getting indicted for you’ The religious right used to be uneasy about Trump – but his dominance is now complete

Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again ally in the Senate issued a half-hearted defence of the former president on Sunday as Republicans across Washington issued varied responses to the federal indictment against the former president. Sen Lindsey Graham was on ABC’s This Week, where he received a grilling by host George Stephanopoulos about the allegations in the Justice Department’s 37-count indictment, unsealed last week. In one exchange, the South Carolina senator blew up and demanded that he be allowed to finish his remark after Stephanopoulos, attempting to get him back on track, interrupted his spiel about Hillary Clinton and a private email server she used to store data during her time as secretary of State, in violation of federal rules. “You didn't answer the question," Stephanopoulos shot back. "Well, yeah, I'm trying to answer the question from a Republican point of view. That may not be acceptable on this show,” Mr Graham complained in response. He would go on to argue that many Republicans, including apparently Mr Graham himself, see the Justice Department as applying two different standards to Donald Trump and his Democratic rivals like Joe Biden, who was found to have a small trove of classified documents dating back to his time as vice president at his home and office, as well as Ms Clinton, who was investigated by the FBI for her use of the private server. "Most Republicans believe we live in a country where Hillary Clinton did very similar things, and nothing happened to her,” he argued. "Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage," Mr Graham continued. "He is not a spy. He's overcharged. Did he do things wrong? Yes, he may have. He will be tried about that. But Hillary Clinton wasn't." There are a few facts that undermine the assertion that Mr Trump and his Democratic allies are (or should be) on the same playing field. For one, all indications point to the idea that Mr Trump and his team delayed and fought federal authorities for months after the trove of documents was discovered, only yielding the bulk of them during an FBI raid. Secondly, as secretary of state, Ms Clinton’s records would not fall under the authority of the Presidential Records Act. And thirdly, the FBI investigated Ms Clinton for months in a politically damaging probe that is widely thought to have contributed to her defeat to Donald Trump in 2016, even if it did not eventually end in criminal charges. There are also the other serious allegations that Mr Graham did not discuss, including witness tampering, which only tangentially relate to the ex-president’s choice to retain records and documents from his administration. Mr Graham went on in the interview to reassert that he was still supporting Mr Trump’s third bid for the presidency, even though he would not defend the specific behaviour alleged in the Justice Department’s indictment which he appeared to dismiss entirely as a hit job. His comments are just the latest in a long line of defences for Mr Trump, whose political future he has also vocally opposed on at least two separate occasions, including in the runup to the 2016 Republican nominating convention as well as the immediate aftermath of January 6. The South Carolina senator is considered a case study of the Republican Party’s evolution under Mr Trump, which continues to force many of the ex-president’s former detractors to return to his embrace in order to protect their political futures. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump heads to Miami ahead of arraignment as Bill Barr says ex-president is ‘toast’ What a Florida grand jury and judge means for Trump’s indictment Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News: ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’ What is an indictment? Here’s what Donald Trump is facing ‘If even half of it is true, he is toast’: Bill Barr gives devastating view of Trump indictment on Fox News Trump allies cite Clinton email probe to attack classified records case. There are big differences

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Moscow’s troops have ramped up their offence as they push to regain territory near Bakhmut, the head of Ukraine‘s ground forces wrote on Telegram. Ukrainian troops had recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and made some advances to the city’s west, north and south since Kyiv launched its summer counteroffensive. The eastern mining city Bakhmut was the site of the war’s bloodiest battle before falling into Russian hands in May, “Toward Bakhmut, the Russians have become more active and are trying to recapture previously lost positions. ... Enemy attacks are being repelled,” Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote in a Telegram update on Sunday afternoon. Ukraine‘s long-awaited counteroffensive has so far resulted in only incremental gains and heavy losses, with Ukrainian troops struggling to punch through Russian lines in the south. Meanwhile, Moscow’s forces have attempted to press forward in the northeast, likely with a view to distract Kyiv and minimize the number of troops it is able to send to key southern and eastern battles. The Ukrainian ground forces’ spokesperson similarly reported that Russian troops had “switched from defense to active defense” near Bakhmut, “putting pressure” on Ukrainian troops south of the city. Read More Anger as Ramaswamy seems to call Jewish Ukraine leader Zelensky ‘Nazi’ at GOP debate Russia seeks an 8-year prison term for an artist and musician who protested the war in Ukraine Russia reportedly is using Ukrainian POWs to fight in their homeland on Moscow's side Ukraine takes step towards EU membership as European Commission backs negotiations to begin