New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio put his foot down while appearing on Fox News to defend what he calls the “sacred choice” of abortion.

The 2020 presidential hopeful told Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening that any debate about abortion in the U.S. that broached the possibility of restrictions was tantamount to a “smokescreen.”

The two men sat down for a wide-ranging debate when Mr. Hannity asked: “Do you think a woman in the ninth month, putting aside health, putting aside life of the mother, do you support any restrictions until the baby is born?”

Mr. de Blasio rejected the premise that he was asked a “simple question.”

“I believe it’s a smokescreen because it doesn’t happen in America,” the Democrat replied. “Women make this choice, it’s a sacred choice. It’s a sacred choice for women.”

Life News excoriated the politician for his stance.

“The reason de Blasio did not answer is almost certainly because he knows most Americans view his position as extreme,” the pro-life website’s Micaiah Bilger wrote Thursday. “Democrats are alienating voters with their radical pro-abortion position. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a number of steps to protect unborn babies and end taxpayer funding to abortion groups.”

A Quinnipiac University poll released this week paints a bleak picture of the Democrat’s chances of taking on President Trump in 2020.

Both New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Mr. de Blasio polled at zero percent in Quinnipiac’s survey.

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