Donald Trump calls himself the “Father of IVF” during a Fox News town hall.

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump called himself the “father of IVF” during a wide-ranging speech on Fox News and also repeated attacks against what he calls the “enemy within.”

The town hall had an all-female audience and was billed as a conversation about the issues facing American women. Trump faces a wide gender gap in pre-election polls, with most female voters favoring Vice President Kamala Harris.

But when a participant in the crowd asked his position on abortion access and in vitro fertilization, Trump said, “I'm the father of IVF, so I want to hear that question.”

It was not immediately clear whether the former president was speaking about his own family or the proceedings more broadly.

Trump didn't just talk about reproductive rights at the event, however. He also repeated attacks against his critics and political opponents, calling them “the enemy from within.”

Here are some key moments from the town hall.

“I am the father of IVF”

Trump tried to use the all-female town hall to ease political pressure on reproductive rights.

IVF became a central part of the 2024 election after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the embryos used in the procedure were children, a decision that came after the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade had waived in 2022.

While Alabama lawmakers quickly crafted new rules to protect IVF providers, the back-and-forth sparked questions about reproductive debates outside of abortion, including access to IVF, birth control and more.

“I want to talk about IVF,” Trump said Tuesday. “I am the father of IVF.”

“We want fertilization and that's all, and the Democrats have tried to attack us for that, and we're even more pro-IVF than they are. So we're all for it.”

Trump has said he supports access to the procedure in the months since the Alabama decision. In the summer, he said that if re-elected, his second government would ensure that people who use artificial insemination have their costs covered.

The moment at Tuesday's town hall sparked immediate criticism from Harris and other Democrats. Speaking to reporters in Detroit, the vice president noted that Trump supports the right of states to ban abortions and that some conservative voices have called for restricting IVF.

While the former president supports states setting their own abortion restrictions, he also said he personally supports three general exceptions for rape, incest and medical emergencies. Trump reiterated that point when asked why the government should be involved in abortion decisions, one of the few unkind questions asked during the town hall.

“I wasn’t out of control”

Trump on Tuesday did not back down on comments attacking opponents he described as the “enemy from within” – citing the deployment of the National Guard or the military.

The former president faced questions after a Sunday interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo in which he said the greater threat to the country was not foreign adversaries but “people from within.”

During the interview, he added that the unrest after next month's election “should very easily be dealt with by the National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can't allow that.”

In recent campaign appearances, Harris accused Trump of threatening to use the military against his opponents and claimed, “He considers anyone who doesn't support him or bend to his will to be an enemy of our country.”

However, Trump said at Fox Town Hall this week: “I thought it was a nice presentation – I wasn't unhinged.” He called his enemies “very dangerous” as well as “Marxists, communists and fascists,” accusations he has made for months raised without evidence.

Trump has also long claimed, without evidence, that the criminal charges against him were fueled by his political rivals. Trump, who has been indicted in four separate criminal cases, is the first convict who has a serious chance of winning the US presidency. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 26 for his conviction in a New York hush money case.

“We will get better reviews”

At the start of the event, Trump made a joke that touched the family of Amber Thurman, the Georgia woman whose death was linked to a state abortion ban.

Fox News host Harris Faulkner opened the town hall by telling Trump that Democrats had organized a “prebuttal” media call with members of the Thurman family.

“We’re going to get better ratings, I promise,” Trump said

“I am the father of IVF”

“I wasn’t out of control”

“We will get better reviews”

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