Until Trump carried 52 percent of their votes in 2016, American Catholics supported the Democratic nominee in all but four presidential cycles since 1952. But after betting it all on the thrice-married Manhattan businessman — Trump won white Catholics by a 23-point margin.
The president is surrounded by self-identified Catholics — including Attorney General Bill Barr, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — but rarely does he engage with outside Catholics in the same way he does with evangelical leaders. Some evangelical figures have dined with the president in his private residence, while others were spotted mingling with Cabinet officials at a midterm watch party he hosted in November 2018.
The Trump campaign says that’s all about to change: If the 2020 election will be won or lost in the Rust Belt — specifically in economically depressed counties throughout Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that boast a sizable share of cultural and devout Catholics — the president can’t afford to have Catholics feeling left out.
Article submitted by, Great Gazoo.
