Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, believes Catholics voting for President-elect Trump is the reason he secured a second term in the White House.
Birch spoke to Fox News Digital this week about the swing in votes for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Catholic, and helped the Republican candidate win a decisive victory. According to washington postThis was the largest vote margin for any candidate among Catholics since exit polls began in 1972.
“Catholic Vote is a large, multiracial, working-class party made up of white voters, Hispanic voters and union voters,” Birch said. “And I think you could argue that it was Catholics who brought this election to President Trump.”
Harris officially recognizes Trump's landslide victory the day after
Brian Birch, president of Catholic Vote, blamed Catholic voters for President-elect Trump's victory last week. (FOX News Digital | Getty Pool)
Birch, whose organization endorsed Trump and his presidential candidate for the first time this year, analyzed the importance of major demographic shifts.
“In 2020, Joe Biden won by about 2 points, and depending on which exit poll you look at, Donald Trump won the Catholic vote by as much as 18 points in 2024. '' he told FOX News Digital.
NBC exit poll It showed that 58 percent of American Catholics voted for Trump, while only 40 percent voted for Harris. Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020 and will now be replaced by Trump, became the second Catholic president after John F. Kennedy.
as one Newsweek opinion column Brian Keillor acknowledged that “among religious voters, Catholics were the key group that helped reverse Trump's fortunes.”
“While Trump won 58% of Catholics, Harris' approval rating among Catholics was only 40%, especially in states with large Catholic populations such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. “That's a big loss. Harris' approval ratings are down not just among white Catholics, but among Catholics overall, probably even among Latino men,” Keillor said. added.
“We're talking about an 18 to 22 point swing in the Catholic vote,” Birch told Fox News Digital, adding that it's a shift that “elected leaders need to pay attention to.” .
President Trump addresses supporters in victory speech
On Wednesday, November 13, 2024, President Biden will meet with President-elect Trump in the Oval Office of the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vuk)
Burch said Catholic voters rallied behind Harris to support Trump because he campaigned on table issues and promised to enact “anti-woke” policies.
“They liked what they heard from President Trump,” he said. “They're talking about record inflation, border issues, some kind of anti-wokeness, let's go back to normal, let's go back to a time when we were proud to be Americans in this country,” he said. I liked that there was attention. There was no DEI craziness like this in our military, so the boys didn't hang out in the girls' locker room.”
“I think Catholics finally thought it was time to take a look at the Republican Party,” he added.
Birch acknowledged that Trump “wasn't like that.” When it comes to pro-life issues, he said, “run a complete campaign” that would increase the right to abortion in every U.S. state, rather than pushing to outlaw a procedure that the Catholic Church teaches is a grave moral evil. I chose to leave it to the decision. Still, he said Trump's record in overturning Roe was significant. v. Wade – President Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees voted in favor of Dobbs – and anti-abortion was preferable to Harris’ platform.
“Meanwhile, Kamala Harris, of course, is trying to impose radical abortion policies on the entire country and has made it clear that there will be no accommodations for people of faith. She will force us to violate our consciences.” I guess so.'' That would mean, for example, the end of Catholic medicine in America. ”
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina, on September 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
“Harris has had a clear hostility toward Catholics throughout her political career,” Birch added, detailing how that attitude manifested during her presidential campaign.
“Now, she's running for president, and she had a chance to reach out to offer some kind of compromise, some kind of gesture, and she couldn't even do that. “I ignored it,” he said. He noted that Harris did not attend a high-profile banquet hosted by New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Catholic Charities ahead of the presidential election.
“We're still a Christian country made up of people of all kinds of faiths. And she didn't seem to understand that. And that played a big role in people's decision to follow Trump. I think it is,” he said. .
The Vice President's Office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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