In an obvious appeal to Evangelical voters, President Trump said that Democrats are “against the bible.”
Speaking with Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera on Thursday, the president addressed his trailing poll numbers by highlighting the differences between himself and Democrats, religion being one of them.
“Are you trailing now? Would you admit that?” Rivera asked the president on his radio show.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I went to Texas. I’ve never seen such enthusiasm. I went to just two days ago, I went to Florida, never saw such enthusiasm, got the support of law enforcement all over the state,” responded Trump, as reported by Fox News. “And all of the sheriffs in Florida. Same thing in Texas. I mean, when you think of it. How about Texas?”
“One of the polls said Trump is leading by one in Texas. Okay. I’m in favor of oil and gas. I’m in favor of the Bible. I’m in favor of the Second Amendment, right?” Trump continued. “Biden is against all of those things. He’s against oil. He’s against the Bible, essentially against religion. But against the Bible and he’s against the Second Amendment.”
Geraldo Rivera felt the characterization of Biden and Democrats as being anti-Bible was “a little harsh.”
“That may be a little harsh, him being against the Bible,” Rivera said.
“Well, the people that control him totally are. I mean, it may be a little harsh for him, but he’s going to have no control,” Trump asserted.
The Democratic Party states on its party platform that “every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion.” Democrats, including Joe Biden, have also called for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer dollars from funding abortions.
Though Joe Biden is a professed Catholic, his views on same-sex marriage and abortion do not align with the expressed doctrine of the Catholic Church. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, abortion is a grave moral evil that cannot be approved or tolerated in any circumstance.
Just last year, a Catholic priest in South Carolina reportedly enforced the church’s code of canon law by denying the former vice president the sacrament of Holy Communion due to his stance on abortion.
“Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Father Robert E. Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church told reporters. “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other, and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”
This past June, after the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, struck down a Louisiana law requiring doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, Joe Biden said abortion should be legal “under any circumstance.”
“Women’s health care rights have been under attack as states across the country have passed extreme laws restricting women’s constitutional right to choice under any circumstance,” Biden said in a statement. “Today the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that states cannot put in place laws that unduly burden a women’s right to make her own health care decision with her doctor.”