Donald Trump’s running mate Senator J.D. Vance accused Vice President Kamala Harris of “anti-Catholic bias” as the Republican ticket pursued votes in Pennsylvania, where roughly a quarter of the population is Catholic.
Writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Vance criticised Harris’ statement that she did not support religious exemptions from providing insurance coverage for abortion services.
“There was once a time in our nation’s history when both parties agreed on a common set of ideals, among them the understanding that an individual’s First Amendment right to practice his or her faith supersedes the political agenda of any bureaucrat, elected official, or political party,” Vance wrote.
“Ms Harris has made clear that time has passed. Only by rejecting her record of anti-Catholic bias will we ensure religious liberty for all.”
Most disputes over religious exemptions are in fact deliberated in federal courts rather than the White House, although some Democrat-appointed judges have proven less supportive of religious exemption in recent years.
In other swing states, Catholic dioceses disassociated themselves from Republican campaign literature masquerading as an official Church outlet.
Issues of the “Catholic Tribune” were mailed to Catholic households and appeared online, featuring items typical of a diocesan publication – such as clergy appointments and Mass intentions – as well as articles that aimed to “undermine Vice President Kamala Harris and prop up former President Donald Trump”, according to the investigative non-profit ProPublica, which identified the fake news outlet.
The Archdiocese of Detroit issued a statement saying the “Catholic Tribune” was “a newspaper falsely identifying itself as Catholic”.
“This publication is not endorsed by, nor is it affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit,” it said. “To our knowledge, it does not have the proper authorisation required by Canon (Church) law to call itself Catholic.”
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference also condemned the fake news outlet.
ProPublica traced the publication to a former TV reporter, Brian Timpone. Another of Timpone’s publications, Journatic, “admitted plagiarism and overseas outsourcing using false bylines,” according to the ProPublica report.
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