Illinois GOP Republican Mary Miller immediately faced backlash as she credited former President Donald Trump for the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, calling it a “victory for white life” at a Saturday night (June 25) rally.

“President Trump, on behalf of all the MAGA patriots in America, I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the supreme court yesterday,” Miller said, drawing cheers from a crowd of thousands in West Central Illinois.

Miller is running for reelection in the state’s newly redrawn 15th congressional district against GOP Republican Rodney Davis with the former president’s blessing. She had been invited on stage to speak by Trump, who held the rally to turn out the vote ahead of the state’s primary on Tuesday, June 28.

Miller’s spokesperson said the congresswoman misread the prepared speech and intended to say the decision was a victory for a “right to life”. Miller’s spokesperson Isaiah Wartman told reporters that it was “a mix-up of words.” “You can clearly see in the video, she’s looking at her papers and looking at her speech,” Wartman said.

Miller, who is the mother of seven and grandmother of 17, later shared a message of twitter in response to the backlash. “I will always defend the RIGHT TO LIFE!” she tweeted accompanied by a photo of her grandchildren.

The United States Supreme Court’s decision to terminate the constitutional right to abortion in the country has caused outrage across the world.

During Saturday’s rally, Trump claimed credit for his role in the Supreme Court’s ruling. He mentioned that in 2016, he promised to appoint judges who opposed abortion rights. The three conservative justices he appointed all voted in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade. “Yesterday the court handed down a victory for the constitution, a victory for the rule of law, and above all, a victory for life,” he told the crowd, before they broke into a chant of “Thank you Trump”.