For 78 years now, the Catholic Archdiocese of New York has hosted the high-profile Alfred E. Smith Dinner, a cultural landmark named after the failed 1928 Democrat presidential candidate who lost in a landslide in large part due to anti-Catholic prejudice. This non-partisan Dinner, historically attended by Democrat and Republican presidential candidates, raises money for and celebrate the efforts of Catholic charities to serve the poor and needy. Breaking with tradition, Kamala Harris refused to attend and again publicly revealed her personal and policy disdain for Catholics.
Certainly, most Catholics outside of New York have never heard of the Dinner, nor of her unprecedented refusal to attend. But across the rest of America, Catholics are being similarly snubbed by her deeply held anti-Catholic views and policies, by her presidential campaign, and by her top political surrogates.
For decades after 1928, Catholics were critical to the national Democrat Party coalition. From FDR to JFK, Catholic voters were at the heart of multiple Democrat victories. But since then, a battle has raged for this ultimate swing vote in presidential elections. Most recently, Donald Trump’s surprising 2016 victory was largely fueled by the Catholic vote swinging his way in the upper Midwest. But in 2020, with self-identified Catholic Joe Biden on the ballot, Trump lost his Catholic advantage, and the national Catholic vote narrowly split between Biden and Trump, providing a Democrat victory.
With more than six million Catholic voters across the seven battleground states for 2024, including one-fourth of all the voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, Kamala’s outright contempt for Catholics may throw this election to Donald Trump. For unlike previous Democrat presidential candidates, Harris has written off Catholic voters.
Given Harris’ history of anti-Catholic bigotry, including her multiple attacks on the premier Catholic men’s organization, the Knights of Columbus, her declarations that faithful Catholics are not fit to serve as federal judges, and her religious-like fervor to promote abortion anytime, anywhere, without exception until birth paid for by Catholics, these actions may not be surprising. But for Harris to announce, in recent days, that she intends to require all Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses to perform abortions – even if they are morally opposed – smacks of not only personal prejudice but also a clear campaign strategy to abandon Catholics.
In addition to Harris’ bigotry, her Democrat surrogates in key swing states have increasingly revealed their own personal contempt for Catholics. Most recently, in her weird and brazen Doritos video, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer mocked the holy sacrament of Catholic communion. And for years, the Biden-Harris Administration, Democrat prosecutors such as now-Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Democrat U.S. Senators have persecuted and targeted Catholic nuns, particularly the Little Sisters of the Poor, for their religious objections to government health care mandates.
It all adds up to one unmistakable conclusion – Kamala Harris and the Democrats have an outright nativist contempt for Catholics. They believe that anti-Catholicism attracts more votes than the alternative. But with the sheer size of Catholic voters in battleground states, this nativist strategy of the Democrat Party will likely be a weird twist of Al Smith’s 1928 presidential campaign: This time the Democrats lose and Catholics win.
The Honorable Tim Huelskamp, Ph.D. is a member of the 2024 RNC Platform Committee and represented the 1st District Kansas in Congress for 6 years. He has 30-plus years of campaign, policy, and legislative experience at both the federal and state levels and is a well-known national leader, policymaker, communicator, and campaign advisor. He is also a Senior Advisor to CatholicVote.