DeSantis calls Trump abortion comments a "big mistake"

• "I do think he's a different candidate today than he was back then," he added.
• "And I think the one back then was probably closer to where Republican voters want to be than the latest iteration."

The big picture: Trump criticized DeSantis on Sunday for signing a six-week abortion ban in his state during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press."

• "I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake," Trump said of Florida's ban.
• DeSantis hit back against Trump's remarks during the ABC News interview, saying: "For him to then attack people like Iowa, South Carolina, Florida, all these other states, I thought was a big mistake."

Zoom out: Trump's comment drew criticism from anti-abortion activists, including including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who has a prominent national stature as the governor of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

• "It's never a 'terrible thing' to protect innocent life," Reynolds wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
• Reynolds, like DeSantis, has supported a 6-week abortion ban in her state.

What they're saying: Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, defended the former president's abortion record in a statement and said that his "unmatched record speaks for itself."

• "There has been no bigger advocate for the movement than President Trump," Cheung said.

Go deeper: The GOP's runaway train on abortion