The Trump campaign, facing wilting support, is increasingly pitching the president as a defender of religious freedom, while portraying former Vice President Joe Biden as an ally of left-wing animosity toward the free practice of religion.

The campaign in July organized a series of prayer calls, tailored for individual faith communities, and honed its religious messaging, especially in the wake of widespread closure of churches in the spring, a disappointing term at the Supreme Court, and most recently, a violent resurgence of anti-Catholicism.