Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2024 / 18:27 pm (CNA).
Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign on Sept. 4 launched the Catholics for Trump coalition, which emphasizes the defense of religious liberty, traditional values, and the sanctity of human life as priorities of the Republican nominee’s agenda.
The coalition, which intends to rally Catholic support behind the former president, seeks to show a contrast between Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on key issues that are important to Catholics.
According to the coalition’s mission statement, Catholics for Trump commits “to safeguarding the vital principles of religious liberty and the sanctity of life that President Donald J. Trump has ardently championed.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, our nation witnessed unprecedented support for religious freedoms, with significant victories both domestically and globally,” the mission statement read. “President Trump restored protections for faith-based organizations and bolstered the rights of religious institutions against governmental overreach.”
The mission statement added that Trump “has stood unwaveringly in defense of traditional values and the sanctity of human life” and that the coalition “stands with President Trump to continue building a nation where the rights of every individual to practice their faith freely is protected.”
Matt Schlapp, the president of The American Conservative Union, and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, who served in the Trump administration, said in a joint statement that Trump “will continue to defend our religious freedoms and our values enshrined in faith and family.”
“We have watched Kamala Harris attack President Trump’s Catholic judicial nominees who had to face her hostile and unfair questions when she was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” the statement read. “She was especially bigoted to anyone associated with the Knights of Columbus. Harris also was complicit in the FBI’s fascist infiltration of Catholic parishes that say Latin Mass.”
Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, who are both Catholic, were also involved in the 2020 Catholics for Trump coalition.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has been trying to appeal to Catholic and other Christian voters. In July, the former president accused Harris and the Democratic Party of being “after Catholics,” adding “somebody doesn’t like Catholics in that administration.”
Trump nominated three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, which had prevented states from imposing restrictions on abortion for nearly 50 years. Following the Supreme Court’s decision, about two dozen states imposed restrictions on abortion.
Since then, Trump has moderated his stance on abortion, announcing that he opposes federal restrictions and supports states adopting their own rules. In contrast, Harris has campaigned on codifying the abortion standards previously held in Roe v. Wade, which would override pro-life laws in more than 20 states.
Last week, Trump announced he would vote against a proposed constitutional amendment in Florida that would enshrine a right to abortion in the state’s constitution. The former president had previously signaled support for the amendment.
Harris has also launched a Catholics for Harris-Walz coalition to rally Catholic support behind her campaign. The campaign scheduled a virtual event for the coalition three weeks ago, but it was abruptly canceled.
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Mixing religion and politics? No thanks. Perhaps his campaign should just say that he is the lesser of two evils?
At best, this could be called “Catholics Who Can Tolerate Trump,” but for my money, even someone who feels constrained to vote for him should do so quietly and privately. I certainly wouldn’t want my name associated with him, and I wish ecclesiatical authorities could prevent the use of the word “Catholics” in regard to this organization.
I do not believe a Catholic publication should carry water for extreme partisanship, and sincerely hope you can see how this applies to either node of our wretched duopoly.
Keep me out of this. I being Catholic will not support a felon, liar, divider in chief, n a self centered man. There is nothing godly in his policies. I will vote for Haris n Walz.
I don’t like Trump. But compared to the Harris-Walz ticket, who 100% pro abortion up to birth (and beyond) fully funded by the taxpayers, pro-child genital mutilation, pro-grooming by drag queen perverts, pro-Socialism, pro-BLM, pro-CRT and pro-Hamas as well as a myriad of other issues that violate the teachings of the Church, then Trump is the obvious lesser of two evils.
I feel sorry for US Catholics. They have a truly horrible choice this election year. But then again, in South Africa there is no viable pro-life, pro-family party so we are forced to vote for the lesser evil every time, just like Americans are in 2024.