Vice President Harris is facing the wrath of Catholic voters after years public hostility towards them, insiders say.
“Kamala’s definitely been impacted negatively by a lack of support from Catholic voters,” said Ryan Girdusky, a GOP strategist and Catholic. “She’s polling worse than Joe Biden among a very important demographic. They are the largest single church in America, the Catholic vote will help decide the presidency.”
A survey from the Pew Research Center last month showed Harris underwater with Catholic voters, with 47% support to Trump’s 52%. The numbers were exactly flipped in 2020 when Biden, a Catholic, beat Trump, according to exit polling from the Washington Post. Hillary Clinton lost Catholics to Trump in 2016 by a 52% to 45% margin.
Almost a quarter of battleground Pennsylvania voters identify as Catholic, according to Pew. Other must-win states like Nevada and Michigan are 25% Catholic and 18% Catholic respectively. Arizona, another critical state for both teams, is 21% Catholic.
Harris made headlines last month when news emerged that she would skip the Archdiocese of New York’s annual Al Smith Dinner.
Presidential candidates of both parties, regardless of their faith, have long been a staple at the event. Timothy Cardinal Dolan said he was “disappointed” by the decision, noting the last major candidate to skip it was Democrat Walter Mondale in 1984 — shortly before he was trounced by Ronald Reagan.
Harris’ discomfort with Catholics stretches back much further. In December 2018, when Harris — a Baptist married to a Jewish man — served in the Senate as a member of the Judiciary Committee, she grilled Brian Buescher, a judicial nominee for the US District Court in Nebraska, about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal and charitable organization.
“Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?” she demanded to know. “Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization?”
During the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020, her Catholicism again was litigated by Democratic senators, leading to a rebuke from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO.)
“Senator Harris and others on this committee have repeatedly questioned judicial nominees fitness for office because of their membership in the Knights of Columbus,” he chided.
While she has been vice president The Biden-Harris administration has also targeted traditional Catholics, through the weaponization of federal law enforcement, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee.
“The FBI singled out Americans who are pro-life, pro-family, and support the biological basis
for sex and gender distinction as potential domestic terrorists,” the findings concluded, noting that the feds had even tried to turn “Catholic clergy and church leadership” into informants.
“What is really at issue is that Democrats want to support Catholics who follow the teachings of the Democratic Party, and suppress Catholics who follow the teachings of the Catholic Church,” said Chad C. Pecknold, a professor at The Catholic University of America.
“When a political party becomes itself a pseudo-religion, we shouldn’t be surprised in how it governs.”
