Catholics for Trump, a campaign coalition focused on capturing Catholic swing votes in the upper Midwest, launched Thursday evening in a livestream event.
The event, originally intended to be held in Milwaukee in March, was hosted by Trump campaign spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp and American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, as well as longtime Republican consultant Mary Matalin and the controversial activist and Priests for Life President Frank Pavone.
The coalition, Pavone said, will “really lay out in detail” for Catholic voters how President Trump’s leadership is consistent with the Catholic Church’s social teaching and its conception of “the common good.” Pavone cited Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as his position on abortion, his free market economic planks, and the protection of United States borders from “criminal aliens” as examples of the president’s commitment to the common good.
“If you step back and ask, ‘Aren’t these all Catholic values? Aren’t these all things that the Church is always talking about?’ They are,” Pavone said.
“This coalition is going to be truly a movement when Catholics rise up and say, ‘Hey, look, everything the Church has been saying, we’re seeing it unfold before our eyes,'” Pavone added. “Not like magic but with a strong, united effort under this president.”
For the time being, the coalition will focus on reaching out to Catholic voters through online events, Mercedes Schlapp said. Messaging will focus on Trump’s record, but the campaign will also go on the offensive against former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a Catholic.
“I think it’s important to make that case of Biden being an extremist, especially on issues like abortion,” she said.
Before the online event was announced, Mercedes Schlapp told the Washington Examiner that the campaign would contrast Biden’s support for abortion with Trump’s anti-abortion actions as well as the president’s emphasis on religious liberty.
“At the end of the day, President Trump is the most pro-life president we’ve seen in our country,” she said. “There is such a long list of things President Trump has done to support the pro-life community and to support religious liberty, which is incredibly important to those of us who are Catholic.”
Matt Schlapp added to this argument during the event, criticizing the Democratic establishment, particularly Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Catholic, for promoting policies that are in opposition to Catholic teaching. He mentioned in particular an Obama-era contraception mandate that triggered a Supreme Court case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Matt Schlapp said Trump’s support for the religious group represented clear proof that the president supports the interests of Catholics and other religious groups.
“I think what the Trump administration has done over the past three years is stop this war on religious institutions,” he said.
Pavone, as well as both Schlapps, was on Trump’s Catholic Advisory Committee in 2016. Trump’s outreach to Catholics in 2016 was limited in the beginning of his campaign, in part because the then-candidate encountered resistance from many bishops, as well as the criticism of Pope Francis for his positions on immigration.
Pavone told the Washington Examiner that since Trump’s election, however, he has proven to Catholics that he cares about their values.
“They weren’t quite sure what they were going to get,” Pavone said. “What they were more sure about is what they would not be getting by rejecting Hillary. Now, however, the question mark has changed into an exclamation point.”
