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What did Donald Trump do today?
He said the party with the most Catholic members and a Catholic nominee for president was anti-Catholic.
Trump spoke tonight at an all-virtual version of the Al Smith dinner, an annual political tradition featuring humorous—but light-hearted—speeches from prominent politicians in both parties. The gentle back-and-forth between rival candidates John McCain and Barack Obama in 2008 is a good example:
Al Smith was the first Catholic nominee for president from a major party, and the foundation that puts it on raises money for Catholic charities.
Trump, who has repeatedly personally attacked Pope Francis, used his speech to accuse Democrats of anti-Catholic bias.
More Catholics are Democrats than Republicans, and the party's nominee, Joe Biden, is a devout Catholic.
It's not actually clear Trump knows what Biden's religion is. In private, Trump—who has rarely if ever been seen at a church service outside of campaign appearances—is deeply cynical about religion. And in public, Trump has said that if Biden were elected president, he would "hurt God."
It's not the first time Trump has tried to use the Al Smith dinner for this purpose. In 2016, he accused Hillary Clinton of corruption and anti-Catholicism, and was booed by the crowd.
Why should I care about this?
- Assuming Catholics are this easily manipulated is a very old form of anti-Catholic bigotry.
- People who live in glass cathedrals shouldn't throw stones.