Donald Trump has warned US Catholics against voting Democrat in the forthcoming US presidential election, saying “they’re after the Catholics almost as much as they’re after me”.
He suggested that Catholics would face severe restrictions on their civil and religious liberties if Kamala Harris is confirmed as the Democrat nominee for the November presidential elections and goes on to win.
Trump, the Republic nominee and a former US President, made his remarks after previous anti-Catholic rhetoric made by Vice-President Harris when she was a senator resurfaced in the media last week.
“I don’t know how a Catholic can vote for the Democrats because they’re after the Catholics, almost as much as they’re after me,” Mr Trump said at Turning Point Action’s Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida. “I would say I top you, I’m proud to admit, but they’re really after the Catholics.”
He continued: “As everyone here understands, the radical left ideology Kamala supports is really militantly hostile toward Americans of faith.”
He added: “As a senator, she viciously attacked highly qualified judicial nominees simply because they were members of the Knights of Columbus, suggesting that their Catholic faith disqualified them from serving on the federal bench.”
Trump’s remarks were in reference to the opposition of then Senator Kamala Harris to his appointment of Judge Brian Buescher, a Knight of Columbus, to United States District Court for the District of Nebraska in 2018.
During the confirmation hearing, Harris challenged Buescher about his Catholic faith, asking him: “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organisation?”
She also criticised the Knights for their opposition to same-sex marriage, a position she described as “extreme”, and invited Buescher to leave the organisation should his appointment be confirmed.
Buescher replied that his membership of his parish group would not impinge on the decisions he would make in court.
At the time, Senator Harris was publicly criticised for attempting to impose an unconstitutional “religious test” on a candidate’s suitability for public office.
Former Vice President Mike Pence brought up the incident during a 2020 debate with Harris – who is a member of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco – and she denied that she would attack anyone because of their faith.
Vice-President Harris is the favourite to stand as the Democrat's presidential nominee following the <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-muddled-end-to-joe-bidens-campaign-highlights-problems-plaguing-us-politics/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">decision of President Joe Biden not to fight for a second term</mark></a>. While President Biden speaks publicly about being a Mass-going Catholic, he has come in for much criticism, especially from the US Catholic Church, for espousing and defending abortion, including up to birth, as well as for other policies clearly contrary to the teachings of the Church.
Mr Trump also added his voice to the mounting criticism of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics for its transsexual parody of the Last Supper, describing the event as a “disgrace”.
His son, Donald Trump Jr, went even further, stating on the <em>X</em> social media platform that in his opinion the attack on Christianity was effectively “satanic”.
“My mom was an Olympian (Czech Natl Ski Team), and as a kid we would be excited for weeks leading up to the games,” he wrote on <em>X</em>.
“Now with the ever predictable (& seemingly satanic to me) drag queen opening ceremonies and never ending bs [b*llsh*t], no one I know even thinks about it beyond maybe watching some highlights.”<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/expect-to-hear-a-whole-lot-more-championing-of-reproductive-freedom-as-kamala-harriss-campaign-shifts-into-gear/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Kamala Harris will hammer on endlessly about ‘reproductive freedom’ as campaign shifts into gear</mark></a></strong><br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/french-soul-searching-begins-as-weird-chaos-of-olympics-opening-ceremony-sinks-in/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">French soul searching begins as weird chaos of Olympics’ opening ceremony sinks in</mark></a></strong><br><br><em>Photo: Former President Donald Trump speaks during a Turning Point Action’s Believers’ Summit conference at the Palm Beach Convention Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, 26 July 2024. Trump had earlier met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago home. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.)</em>
