According to recent reports, President Joe Biden is losing support from the Catholic community in the United States. Despite Biden describing himself as a devout Catholic, his own church is ditching him in favor of former President Donald Trump.
Polling data from the Pew Research Center indicates that if the election were held today, 55 percent of Catholic voters would support Trump, whereas 43 percent would vote for Biden. For context, in 2020, Pew found that Catholics were essentially split down the middle, where 50 percent supported Trump and 49 percent would vote for Biden.
Perhaps Biden has lost touch with Catholic voters over policy stances on controversial issues such as abortion and laws regarding so-called “gender-affirming care.” The Christian community, particularly the Catholic church, often holds diametrically opposing views to President Biden on these issues.
The American Tribune reported on comments from Roman Catholic Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who suggested that Biden was a “cafeteria Catholic” who would pick and choose what is convenient within the Christian faith for his political career.
“I would say that he’s very sincere about his faith. But like a number of Catholics, he picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts,” Gregory explained. “There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a ‘cafeteria Catholic,’ you choose that which is attractive, and dismiss that which is challenging.”
Gregory continued, “I would say there are things, especially in terms of life issues, there are things that he chooses to ignore, or he uses the current situation as a political pawn rather than saying, ‘Look, my church believes this, I’m a good Catholic, I would like to believe this.’ Rather than to twist and turn some dimensions of the faith as a political advantage.”
Biden also sparked controversy within the Christian community when he recognized “Transgender Day of Awareness,” which fell on Easter this year. Christians felt as if the president was prioritizing this LGBTQ holiday over the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.
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A statement from Biden read in part, “I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military. I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love.” “Americans of faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country.”
In contrast, former President Donald Trump has consistently pledged to protect the Christian community, which he has described as the “soul of our country.” He stated, “, “Americans of faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country.” Trump noted that if he is reelected, he will “aggressively defend” freedom of religion in America.
Watch Trump’s powerful, pro-Christian speech here: