Trump and Harris campaigns spotlight religion in recent appeals to Christian voters

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris have focused on religion in recent days as they make their final appeals to Christian voters just weeks before the election.

Thursday night’s Al Smith dinner, a major fundraising event hosted by Catholic Charities of New York, served as a kickoff point for a weekend with events targeted at religious groups, including church services Sunday.

Harris did not attend the New York charity event in person Thursday, instead delivering a prerecorded speech that aired at the event.

Trump, meanwhile, delivered a roughly 30-minute speech in person at the annual dinner, during which he chided Harris repeatedly for skipping the dinner to campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

“My opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event, and in particular to our great Catholic community. Very disrespectful,” Trump said to applause.

Presidential candidates typically have delivered remarks every four years at the dinner, hosted by New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and have traded good-natured jokes, though Trump upended the event in 2016 by attacking Hillary Clinton. Trump and President Biden spoke virtually in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harris addressed the event via a video that featured comedian Molly Shannon portraying her “Saturday Night Live” character Mary Katherine Gallagher, a Catholic schoolgirl.

The video began on a lighthearted note, with Shannon’s character advising Harris on what to say in her speech, including, “Don’t lie. Thou shall not bear false witness to thy neighbor.”

“Indeed, especially thy neighbor’s election results,” Harris said in response, knocking Trump’s repeated false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

Once Shannon left the video, Harris spoke directly to the camera: “The Al Smith dinner provides a rare opportunity to set aside partisanship and come together to do some good by supporting the tremendous charitable work of the Catholic Church.”

This weekend, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), also sought to appeal to Catholic voters, holding an event Sunday evening at a Waukesha, Wis., airplane hangar. Vance, a Catholic convert, was expected to make the case that Trump is better for Catholics than Harris is, according to local reports.

The Harris campaign fanned out across battleground states Sunday to mark "Souls to the Polls," a push centered on reaching Black voters through their churches and religious communities.

Harris attended services and delivered remarks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Ga. and was scheduled to attend an event at Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Ga.

Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), attended services in Saginaw, Mich., on Sunday, and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz attended services in Las Vegas, Nev.

Harris touched on her own religious upbringing in her Sunday remarks in Georgia, recalling learning of a “loving God” who “asks us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the rights of the poor and the needy.”

She said church, for her, is “a place of growth, and belonging, and community. A place where we are reminded of the incredible power of faith and fellowship.”

“And this moment in our nation must be about so much more than partisan politics,” she later added. “It must be about looking inward and being guided by our faith to know what brings hope and what is truly the best expression of our strength in the way that we reach out to each other with kindness and with love.”