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MINOT — On the last day of June, Gov. Doug Burgum, still furiously pursuing a place as disgraced former President Donald Trump's running mate, appeared on Meet the Press and was asked about his past stance on abortion as expressed to me in an interview circa 2016. In that interview, Burgum told me, "America was an unsafe place for women before Roe v.

Wade." "By your own standard, governor, is America unsafe for women as a result of Roe being overturned?" host Kristen Welker asked him after the audio of Burgum's statement to me was played for him. "No, it's not," Burgum answered, explaining that he's "evolved" on that issue.



It would be easy to accuse Burgum of flip-flopping. Of having "evolved" for the sake of political expediency. I would rebut those assertions by pointing out the date of my interview with him: Feb.

1, 2016, the dawn of his out-of-left-field primary campaign to become governor. ADVERTISEMENT He was a relative unknown in North Dakota politics at that time and was in the process of defining himself for voters. There was nothing at all expedient at that moment about his suggestion that overturning the Roe v.

Wade precedent, as has now happened, would make women less safe. Burgum told me something both true and inconvenient about himself in that interview. That takes courage.

Nor am I inclined to be critical of Burgum for changing his mind. It's fashionable in politics to believe that candidates should emerge from the womb already beholden to certain entrenche.

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