Photo

Donald J. Trump suggested he supported shutting down the federal government to stop funding for Planned Parenthood in the wake of videos that show officials with the group discussing fees for tissue from aborted fetuses.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday, as the Senate voted down a measure to stop federal financing for the group, Mr. Trump called the clips “disgraceful.”

Mr. Trump cited the efforts to shut down the government in order to halt funding for the Affordable Care Act, a movement in 2013 led by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas and a candidate to be the party’s presidential nominee, and suggested that tactic should be used again.

“I think you have to in this case also,” Mr. Trump said, noting that in the instance involving Affordable Care Act, “the Republicans decided not to stick together and they left a few people out there like Ted Cruz.”

Mr. Trump’s comments came a few days before the first sanctioned Republican presidential debate. The first-time candidate has changed his position on abortion over the years – he was once a Democrat who staunchly supported abortion rights. But he changed his position ahead of a potential presidential run in 2011, though he decided against running then.

In the interview, Mr. Trump also softened his tone about potentially running as a third-party candidate.

“I will say that I only want to run as a Republican and they’ve been treating me well the last couple of weeks,” Mr. Trump said, “but as you know, we had a lot of difficulty a couple of months before that.”

But he added, “I would say that I want to keep my options open.”

In the past, Mr. Trump also supported late-term abortions and changed his position on that as well. Many conservatives are strongly opposed to abortion at any stage of pregnancy and regardless of the circumstances.