'Finally!' Trump lauds effort to highlight Kamala Harris' 'anti-Catholic record'

President Donald Trump lauded the efforts by a Christian advocacy group Wednesday to raise awareness about Vice President Kamala Harris' apparent antipathy to Catholics, Catholic organizations, and Catholic moral teaching.

Speaking to a large crowd Friday at the Turning Point Believers' Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump suggested that the "radical left ideology Kamala supports is really militantly hostile towards Americans of faith" and that Harris personally has an issue with Catholics.

Harris "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," said Trump.

Trump nominated Brian Buescher to sit on the U.S. District Court in Nebraska in 2018. During Buescher's nomination process, Democrats took issue with his religious affiliation and membership in the massive Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus, which is well known for its charitable outreach and the assistance it provides to persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

Then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), an advocate for abortion up until birth who has in recent days secured the full support of various abortion outfits, wrote to Buescher, "Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman's right to choose when you joined the organization?"

It's unclear whether Harris knew at the time that the Catholic Church has opposed abortion since the first century and still officially affirms the "moral evil of every procured abortion."

Harris also asked Buescher, "Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when you joined the organization?"

Again, the organization's recognition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman is simply reflective of the official teaching of the Catholic Church.

'Harris's animus toward Catholicism is not limited to inquisition of Catholic nominees for federal courts.'

The archbishop of Philadelphia at the time, Charles Chaput, blasted Harris and her fellow travelers for these and other questions insinuating that Catholics such as Buescher are unfit to sit as American judges, writing, "The sheer ignorance, not the mention injustice, in the senators' describing the Knights as 'extreme' would be baffling – if it weren't part of pattern of bigoted thinking already sanctified by other senators like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in her vulgar 2017 grilling of now-Judge Amy Coney Barrett ('The dogma lives loudly within you, and that's a concern')."

Kenneth Craycraft, the James J. Gardner Chair of Moral Theology at Mount St. Mary's Seminary and School of Theology, underscored in First Things that "Harris's animus toward Catholicism is not limited to inquisition of Catholic nominees for federal courts, but also extends to harassment of public organizations whose missions are consistent with Catholic moral theology."

For instance, Harris introduced legislation aimed at forcing "religious individuals and organizations to engage in activities that directly violate their firmly held religious beliefs" and co-sponsored the "Equality Act," which would "force Catholic hospitals, for example, to perform gender transition surgeries, open women’s restrooms to men, and force girls and women to compete against boys and men in athletic competitions."

Trump noted Friday, "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."

Trump also noted that his victory in November would mean an end to the kind of targeting of Christians and pro-life activists undertaken by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice and FBI. He further promised to review the cases of "every political prisoner who has been unjustly victimized by the Biden-Harris regime," including Catholic activist "Paulette Harlow, the 75-year-old woman in poor health who the Biden-Harris administration sent to prison for peacefully protesting outside of a clinic."

Days after his speech, Trump recognized online that he was not the only person calling out Harris over her religious bigotry.

Ahead of Trump's speech, the advocacy group CatholicVote launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign hammering Harris in critical swing states over her anti-Catholic record.

The group's president, Brian Burch, stated, "Kamala Harris hates what we believe."

"Not only is this a gross form of anti-religious bigotry, it's also unconstitutional," Burch said in reference to the Buescher incident. “Harris' version of being Catholic is a Catholic who surrenders their core beliefs."

Trump celebrated the group's efforts on Truth Social, writing Wednesday, "A large group of Catholics is launching a major Political Campaign against Crazy Kamala Harris. FINALLY!"

"Catholics are literally being persecuted by this Wack Job, just ask the Knights of Columbus," wrote Trump. "They say that she is the most Anti-Catholic person ever to run for high office in the U.S. This respected group wants ALL CATHOLICS TO VOTE AGAINST KAMALA, and they are 100% correct."

CatholicVote responded, "We're proud to expose Kamala's vile hatred of Catholics. Having a President who unapologetically brings this hatred to light is needed to combat religious bigotry."

Should Harris pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate — which she is apparently now strongly considering — the Democratic ticket will be weighed down by even more anti-Catholic baggage.

In 2017, then-state Attorney General Shapiro, who has counted the Catholic Church among his opponents, announced at a Planned Parenthood center that he was suing the Trump administration for providing religious nonprofits with an exemption from having to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives and other services at odds with their deeply held religious beliefs.

Facing the potential of millions of dollars in fines for noncompliance, the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns who take care of the elderly poor, ultimately fought back and won.

When referencing the lawsuit years later, Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) said that Shapiro "has a real grudge against the Catholic Church."

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