Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the black sheep of America’s most well-known Catholic household, is urging the devoted to help former President Trump in a brand new TV advert.
Kennedy, who first challenged President Biden for the Democrat nomination after which ran as an unbiased, discusses his religion within the $250,000 advert spot earlier than giving the explanation why he now helps Trump for the presidency.Â
“President Trump has promised to take daring motion on our financial system, on the border and on restoring kids’s well being. The Democratic Get together has turn into the celebration of warfare, censorship and corruption,” RFK Jr. says.
“Catholics could disagree on many points, however we should discover a solution to love our kids greater than we hate one another. I hope you may be part of me in supporting Donald Trump.”Â
HARRIS’ CATHOLIC DINNER SNUB IS JUST THE LATEST IN CAREER FULL OF SWIPES AT THE FAITHFUL, CRITICS CHARGE
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former President Trump shake palms throughout a marketing campaign rally at Desert Diamond Area on August 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Photographs)
The advert, launched by the conservative group CatholicVote, is about to air in Pennsylvania earlier than a wider launch in swing states, Semafor reported. It comes lower than two weeks earlier than a traditionally tight election wherein Catholic voters may very nicely decide who subsequent occupies the White Home.
CatholicVote President Brian Burch has criticized Harris’ place on abortion, noting the follow violates Catholic social instructing. In a current interview with NBC Information, the vice chairman mentioned she doesn’t help any concessions on the abortion subject, together with non secular exemptions for faith-based well being care suppliers who’ve a conscientious objection to the process.
“I believe Kamala Harris is making an enormous gamble. She’s calculating that she will construct a profitable coalition with out individuals of religion,” Burch advised Fox Information Digital in an interview Wednesday. He acknowledged that Trump has additionally “upset” some pro-life voters by opposing a federal ban on abortion however mentioned, “I believe Trump’s feedback are reflecting the place the general public is and that there isn’t a consensus abortion.”Â
In line with Semafor, the collaboration with Kennedy got here after months of conversations with CatholicVote speaking by means of their positions on abortion. Burch advised the outlet that Kennedy finally agreed “we should be spending an equal amount of cash on serving to girls select to maintain their baby as we’re on serving to them to get abortions.”
DEMOCRATS DRIVING RELIGIOUS VOTE AWAY FROM PARTY AS TRUMP COURTS CATHOLICS: ‘ANTI-CHRISTIAN’ PARTY
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Photographs)
The professional-Trump advert comes because the Trump marketing campaign is actively courting Catholic voters. Trump’s operating mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a Catholic convert, penned an op-ed within the Pittsburgh Publish-Gazette on Thursday that accused Harris of harboring “prejudice in opposition to Catholics.”Â
“Final week, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, one in every of Vice President Kamala Harris’s high surrogates, mocked the sacrament of the Eucharist in a cringey skit with a podcaster. Final Thursday, Ms. Harris grew to become the primary presidential candidate since 1984 to skip the annual Al Smith dinner, a fundraising occasion that advantages Catholic Charities,” Vance wrote.Â
“The primary insults Catholics, whereas the latter shows a extra refined disregard for an vital Catholic cultural occasion, one which raises cash for social providers that assist individuals in want, together with individuals with disabilities and refugees and immigrants. Each present the Harris marketing campaign’s anti-Catholic bigotry.”Â
A handful of key battleground states this election cycle have large Catholic populations. About 24% of the Pennsylvania inhabitants, which has been touted because the state that can possible decide the general consequence of the election, identifies as Catholic; about 25% of the inhabitants in Nevada identifies as Catholic; 18% in Michigan; 21% in Arizona; and 25% in Wisconsin. Different notable battleground states have a smaller Catholic inhabitants, together with Georgia and North Carolina, each of which have a roughly 9% inhabitants of Catholics.Â
TRUMP APPLAUDS CATHOLIC GROUP’S MULTI-MILLION ANTI-HARRIS CAMPAIGN APPEALING TO CHURCH FAITHFUL
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, wrote an op-ed accusing Vice President Harris of “prejudice” in opposition to Christians. (New York Instances screenshot)
Catholics traditionally voted for Democrats till the Nineteen Sixties and early Seventies, when crime and cultural points got here to the fore alongside financial issues, most notably in 1972 when President Richard Nixon’s marketing campaign slammed Democrat opponent Sen. George McGovern as a candidate who supported “amnesty, abortion and acid.”Â
Right now, Catholic voters are evenly break up between the 2 events, and whichever aspect captures the bulk is often the aspect that wins the White Home.
President Biden, the second Catholic president within the nation’s historical past (after John F. Kennedy), received the Catholic vote over Trump in 2020 by about 5 proportion factors. In 2016, Trump received the voting bloc at 52% help in comparison with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 44% Catholic help. Former President Obama received the Catholic vote in each 2008 and 2012, as did former President George W. Bush in his 2004 election in opposition to John Kerry, Pew Analysis information exhibits.Â
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The exception to the rule got here in 2000, when former Vice President Al Gore received the Catholic vote by two factors over Bush regardless of shedding the presidential election total.
The Harris marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Fox Information Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
