The Democratic presidential candidate appears to be doing better with Catholics than Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, leads former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, with a key group of Christian voters, new polling shows.
The former president has attempted to position himself as the candidate most focused on issues conservative Christians are concerned about, such as championing religious freedom and opposing transgender health care for minors. He also regularly touts his appointment of conservative judges to the Supreme Court, which led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022—reversing a longstanding precedent that established a federal right to abortion.
“I love you Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote”, Trump told supporters at a conservative Turning Point Action event in Florida in July.
However, new polling released by EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research showed the vice president ahead of Trump with Catholics, a key demographic of Christian voters. Harris has the support of 50.1 percent of Catholics whereas Trump is backed by 42.7 percent. That’s a lead of more than 7 points for Harris.
An additional 6.2 percent said they remained undecided, while about 1 percent planned to vote for an alternative candidate. Notably, the data also showed a plurality (48.7 percent) of Catholics disapprove of the job President Joe Biden is doing in office, while 41.2 percent approved.
The polling was conducted from August 28 to August 30 among 1,000 Catholic voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns via email for comment on Saturday morning.
Biden became only the second U.S. president in history who identified as Catholic, with the first being former President John F. Kennedy. Harris identifies as a Baptist, however her husband is Jewish and her mother raised her as Hindu. Trump previously identified as a Presbyterian but told Religion News Service in 2020 that he now considers himself a non-denominational Christian.
