Biden has reminded us yet again that he’s a weak and lukewarm ally of abortion rights | Moira Donegan

At a recent fundraiser he said he's not big on' abortion. It's not pro-choice activists who are out of step with the mainstream; it's Joe Biden

A closed-door fundraiser for the very wealthy is a place where a lot of politicians really shine. Among their fellow elites, surrounded by people like them who like them - and are giving them money - Democrats and Republicans alike often become their truest selves. They drop the flesh-pressing affectations, the focused-group soundbites, the stiff smiles. They become something they're usually not: honest.

Honest is what Biden was at a similar fundraiser in tony Chevy Chase, Maryland, this past Tuesday, when he told a crowd of his wealthy supporters that he was personally ambivalent about abortion rights. I'm a practicing Catholic. I'm not big on abortion," the president said. Nevertheless, he claimed that the compromise Roe v Wade decision on abortion got it right".

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist