Former 'Scandal' cast members warn Trump will try to ban abortions; his campaign denies claim

The former cast of a fictional White House staff claimed Sunday that Donald Trump would impose a nationwide abortion ban if the Republican presidential candidate is voted back into the Oval Office in November.

A national bus tour featuring former cast members from the television drama "Scandal," which ran on ABC from 2012-18, stopped in Madison Heights for about an hour Sunday. The show's actors, actresses and local Democratic politicians addressed a crowd of about 130 people in the parking lot of the Plumbers Local Union 98 headquarters.

"If any of you are asking yourselves, 'what in the world is the cast of 'Scandal' doing in Michigan,' I'm going to help you understand," said actress Kerry Washington, who played crisis management expert Olivia Pope on the TV series. "Throughout my career, when something unfolds that is shady (or) problematic ... suddenly, I see that my name starts trending on social media, because people say, 'Olivia Pope, you have to handle this. Olivia Pope, come save us.'

"But the reality is, our characters are not real ... you all are the real human beings doing the work to protect this country at a time when we're all so vulnerable," Washington said.

Washington warned that voters can choose Kamala Harris as president, "or we can wake up to the nightmare of having a president that we've had before, who we know is coming after our rights," she said. "(A man) who has consistently attacked reproductive rights in the courts, and who has made it terrifyingly difficult for women to get lifesaving medical treatment."

Washington and other speakers at Sunday's rally tied Trump to Project 2025, a document produced by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, which the former president has said he does not endorse. Speakers during Sunday's rally also claimed multiple times that Trump planned to enact a national abortion ban, although Trump and his campaign have said he doesn't support such a ban.

"Since the Fall of 2023, President Trump's campaign made it clear that only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former staff, represent policies for the second term," Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, said in an email Sunday. "President Trump personally led the effort to establish 20 promises made to the forgotten men and women across our nation, as well as RNC Platform — these are the only policies endorsed by President Trump for a second term."

"Dangerously liberal Kamala Harris and the DNC are LYING and fear-mongering because they have NOTHING else to offer the American people" Leavitt said. " ... President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion and has been very clear that he will NOT sign a federal ban when he is back in the White House. President Trump also supports universal access to contraception and IVF. Contrarily, Kamala Harris and the Democrats are radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion up until birth and forcing taxpayers to fund it."

During a Sept. 10 interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," Harris called the claim that Democrats support abortions until birth "ridiculous," although she did not provide specifics when asked how long into pregnancies abortions should be denied.

"We need to put into law the protections of Roe v. Wade," she replied when asked for a precise time when abortions should not be allowed. Roe v. Wade protected abortion "until a fetus becomes viable," which is about 23-24 weeks, although Harris in 2018 opposed a bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow acknowledged during Sunday's rally that Trump has disavowed Project 2025 and has insisted he won't enact a national abortion ban. But Stabenow said she doesn't believe the former president.

"If he opens his mouth, he's not telling the truth; that's what we know," said Stabenow, who added she attended political rallies with Washington during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles.

Detroit native Cornelius Smith Jr., who portrayed civil rights activist Marcus Walker on "Scandal," said he's proud of Michigan residents' "history of stepping up."

"At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Detroiters and courageous activists laid the foundation for decades of progress, demanding equality for housing, education, employment and criminal justice," he said. "So, to me, it's no surprise that Michigan is on the front lines for one of the most important elections of our lifetime.

"Donald Trump and the Supreme Court have pledged to strip these (reproductive) rights away," Smith said, prompting a smattering of boos.

"Boo, right?" Smith replied. "But as (former President) Barack Obama said, 'Don't boo ... '"

"Vote!" members of the crowd answered.

Detroit resident Jakarta Kumasi Nakuru said more men should become involved in abortion issues.

"I think women have the right to do what they want with their bodies, and as men, we need to support them," he said. "That just seems obvious to me."

Bria Dixon of Detroit said abortion is "one of those umbrella issues."

"There are so many other things that are tied to reproductive rights," she said. "That's why we need to get Harris in office. That's our only option if we want to keep our rights."

The "Scandal" bus tour began Sept. 3 in Palm Beach, Fla. The tour plans to make stops, including in Flint, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Marquette, according to a press release.

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