US Election 2016: Donald Trump campaign on damage control after abortion comments

Billionaire faces protests from pro-choice and anti-abortion activists, as well as from other presidential hopefuls from both parties

The row means Trump may not do well in the Wisconsin primary elections (Reuters)

Donald Trump is struggling to limit the fallout from controversial comments he made in Wisconsin on Wednesday about women and abortion as a new poll suggested he may suffer a thumping defeat in the state’s primary elections next Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Katrina Pierson, said the candidate had committed a “simple misspeak” when he suggested during a cable news town hall meeting that if abortions were made illegal in America women who had them would have to face “some form of punishment”.

The gaffe, which drew loud protests from pro-choice and anti-abortion activists alike, as well as from other presidential hopefuls from both parties, made a week already full of woes for the billionaire even worse. He quickly issued two statements rowing back from what he said, the second insisting it was the doctors not the women who would face punishment. But the damage had already been done.

“The past 24 hours revealed in the clearest way yet that Donald Trump is not prepared to be president,” John Kasich, the Ohio Governor and the straggler in the Republican race, said.

“I don’t know what world this person lives in,” added Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton declared Mr Trump’s remarks “one of the most outrageous and dangerous statements” ever made by a presidential candidate.

Mr Trump has insisted that a win in Wisconsin would “absolutely cement” his status as the likely Republican nominee. But he has faced unexpectedly stiff headwinds, in part because, unlike in most other states, the Republican Party machinery in Wisconsin is united in its determination to stop him. Those leading the effort are Governor Scott Walker, who has endorsed Senator Ted Cruz, and Charlie Sykes, a popular radio talk show host in the Milwaukee area.

A poll released by Marquette University in Milwaukee showed Mr Cruz leading with 40 per cent against 30 per cent for Mr Trump and 21 per cent for Mr Kasich. Mr Trump’s support was unchanged since the last poll in February but that of Senator Cruz had doubled. There was also troubling news in the poll for the Democrat front-runner, Ms Clinton, who trailed Mr Sanders by five points.

A loss in Wisconsin would make it harder for Mr Trump to attain the simple majority of delegates he needs to seize the nomination and increase the chances of a floor fight at the party convention in July.

Mr Trump’s contrarian political instincts have placed him where he is now, yet may have only worsened his predicament in Wisconsin. From the moment he landed in Wisconsin this week, he set about belittling Governor Walker, who had endorsed Mr Cruz. Yet Mr Walker remains highly popular in the state.