JD Vance visits crucial Waukesha County to encourage Catholics to vote for Trump
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance traveled to Waukesha Sunday to deliver remarks aimed at turning out Wisconsin's large number of Catholic voters for former President Donald Trump.
"As a Christian, as a person who was baptized for the first time just a few years ago, there is something really bizarre with Kamala Harris' anti-Christian rhetoric and anti-Christian approach to public policy," Vance said at a rally at Stein’s Aircraft Services, located near the Waukesha County Airport. "If Christians get out there and vote, we are going to win, my friends."
Vance, a Catholic convert, has been a key part of efforts to mobilize conservative Catholic voters in swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He appeals to those who have embraced a traditionalist take on the faith — a growing movement among some younger Catholics.
Vance has hoped that hitting on issues like abortion and transgender rights will appeal to conservative Catholics, who could give Trump an edge in a tight presidential race. At the Waukesha rally, Vance spent most of his speech hitting on the campaign's main talking points, including the economy, immigration and the fentanyl crisis.
Vance criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a campaign surrogate for Harris, who filmed a video placing a Dorito on the tongue of a podcaster, seizing on a social media trend. The Michigan Catholic Conference said Whitmer was mocking receiving the sacrament of Communion.
"Whether you're a Christian, a Catholic, or any other faith, or no faith at all, when you see an American leader, when you see a surrogate of Kamala Harris, insulting people of the Christian faith, I think that we should say to every single one of those people: You're fired," Vance said.
Whitmer released an apology, saying she "would never do something to denigrate someone's faith" and explaining the video was meant to be about the CHIPS Act.
Harris on Sunday attended and spoke at two churches in Georgia. On Thursday, Harris skipped a Catholic charity dinner in New York that traditionally has been a place where both presidential candidates meet in the runup to the November election. She campaigned in Wisconsin and filmed a video that was shown at the event.
Trump criticized Harris’ absence at the Al Smith dinner, calling it “deeply disrespectful,” and urged Catholics to vote for him, according to the Associated Press.
Polling finds Catholics about split in partisan support
In general, Catholics do not vote as a bloc. About half — 52% — of Catholic registered voters identify with Republicans, and 44% identify with Democrats, according to Pew. Hispanic Catholics tend to lean more Democratic, while white Catholics lean more Republican.
In the last three rounds of Marquette University Law School polls of Wisconsin voters, 42% of Roman Catholic respondents said they would vote for Harris, while 58% support Trump.
Though Milwaukee has historically been a Catholic stronghold, the number of Catholics has been dwindling in recent decades as more people claim no religious affiliation. Today, there are about 530,000 Catholics affiliated with a parish in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which encompasses 10 counties in southeast Wisconsin. They make up about 22% of the population of the region.
Others identify as Catholic in surveys but rarely or never go to church. In Wisconsin, about a quarter of the population identified as Catholic in 2014, according to a Pew Research Center study.
"There's more to Catholicism than rituals, there is a justice and truth element that unfortunately, a lot of Catholics don't know. Certainly Vance does not know that," Greg Garland, a reform Catholic, said at a Waukesha canvass launch for Democrats Sunday morning. "(Vance) is going to try to be a one-trick pony and focus in on abortion."
Vance touched on abortion briefly Sunday, claiming taxpayers are funding abortion at nine months. Fact-checks have found that abortions are rare in late-term and not performed at full term, unless for maternal or fetal complications.
While the Catholic Church opposes abortion, a national survey from Pew this year found 59% of self-identified Catholics believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases, while 40% believe it should be illegal in most or all cases. That split is nearly on par with the general U.S. population’s views on the issue.
Linda Best, another Catholic voter at the Democrats' event Sunday morning, referenced "God Bless the USA" Bibles that Trump has promoted. "Desecrating the Bible, manufacturing it in China, profiting off of it, or using it as a political prop, certainly does not align with my values," she said.
Harris campaign notes Vance hasn't been in Wisconsin frequently
In a statement, Wisconsin Democratic Coordinated Campaign Rapid Response Director Kristi Johnston said Vance has been "too busy defending Donald Trump’s increasingly unhinged and extreme behavior over the past month to campaign in Wisconsin."
"Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz have been traveling across our state sharing their plans to lower costs, protect reproductive freedoms, and chart a new way forward," Johnston said.
Vance's Sunday visit is his first since Sept. 17, when he campaigned in Eau Claire. He has also made stops in De Pere, Kenosha and Milwaukee. Earlier on Sunday, Vance spent time in Green Bay around a Packers home game at Lambeau Field.
More: Trump, Harris are ramping up their travel in Wisconsin. See all the places they've been
Harris will return to Wisconsin Monday with Republican former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, also in Waukesha County. Waukesha was once a Republican stronghold, but Democrats are cutting into margins in the Milwaukee suburb.
Vance on Sunday called Cheney "a resentful, petty, small person. And if Kamala Harris wants to parade her around, she's welcome to."
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former President Barack Obama will also rally in Madison on Tuesday, the first day of early voting in Wisconsin, and Walz will continue on for a second rally in Racine.
More: Once a GOP juggernaut, Waukesha County's shifting voters makes for Wisconsin battleground
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: JD Vance urges Catholic voters to support Donald Trump in Waukesha