(LifeSiteNews) — Catholics are under assault by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and should not vote for Joe Biden in 2024, former President Donald Trump has said.
During his two most recent public speeches, Trump has made it a particular point of emphasis to remind Americans that the Biden administration is “targeting” Catholics.
“There’s never been an assault on Catholics the likes of which they’re having right now,” Trump said this past weekend at the Evangelical Faith & Freedom conference in Washington, D.C.
READ: Trump obliterates ‘woke’ communists, Deep State for ‘waging war on God’
“The FBI has been caught labeling devout Catholics as domestic terrorists and sending undercover spies into Catholic Churches just as it was in the old Soviet Union days – pretty rough stuff. Who can believe this?” he added.
TRUMP: “Biden’s corrupt DOJ has targeted parents at school board meetings, they’ve sent SWAT teams to arrest Pro-Life activists, the FBI has been caught labeling devout Catholics as domestic terrorists and sending undercover spies into Catholic Churches.” pic.twitter.com/YSb9Jg2LKu
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) June 25, 2023
According to Pew Research data, 44 percent of Catholics identity as Democrats while 37 percent say they are Republican. Only 19 percent are independent.
Trump reiterated his comments in Concord, New Hampshire, Tuesday during remarks to Republican women.
“How would a Catholic ever vote for Joe Biden when there’s actually an assault on Catholics?” he wondered. “Catholics are targeted by the FBI and the DOJ. And then you’re supposed to vote for Joe Biden? It doesn’t make sense.”
Gallup has reported that in 2020, 52 percent of all Catholic voters supported Joe Biden in the presidential race, while 47 percent backed Trump. Other reports found a 50-49 percent split favoring Trump.
In February, whistleblower Kyle Seraphin released a memo exposing the FBI for engaging in surveillance of Catholics who attend the Traditional Latin Mass in northern Virginia. Clergy as well as conservative politicians universally condemned the efforts, which many said were a clear example of Joe Biden’s “weaponization” of the intelligence agencies for political gain.
The FBI was also strongly denounced by social conservatives for conducting a raid of Mark Houck’s house in Pennsylvania last September. Houck, a father of seven and pro-life activist who was found innocent of assaulting an escort outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, said the experience left his children traumatized.
On Saturday, Trump urged his audience to never forget the targeting the Biden regime is carrying out against them.
READ: Trump changes tune on abortion, says US gov’t has ‘vital role’ to play in protecting ‘unborn life’
“Christians are being persecuted like nothing this nation has ever seen before.” he said. “Remember that when they tell you about how much they love you, they don’t love you at all.”
“I don’t understand how … people of faith can vote for these Democrats. They’ve become monsters. They’re fighting you all the way on religion.”
Trump promised that if he is re-elected, federal law enforcement will “never again” be used to target Christians. “Americans of faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country.”
Author, YouTube commentator, and traditional Catholic influencer Taylor Marshall announced his presidential candidacy earlier this year. Marshall previously served on the “Catholics for Trump” advisory board in 2020. Thus far, the group has not been resurrected for the 2024 campaign, likely due to Trump’s moderation on abortion, embrace of homosexual “conservatives,” and support for some policy goals backed by LGBT Republicans.