Tipsheet

DNC Chair Laments Influence of Church on Voters

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  December 07, 2018 6:15 AM

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez lamented the influence churches have on voters, which makes it more difficult for Democrats’ message to “penetrate” because Christian voters “buy” what they hear.

“And we all have to make sure that we’re fluent in what’s happening across our ecosystem so we can come to each other’s defense because we need to build a bigger orchestra. They’ve had a big orchestra for some time and they’ve got the megaphones to amplify it, whether it’s Sinclair at the local level or Fox at the national level,” Perez during a Demand Justice event Wednesday.

“I’ve learned this from the outreach we’ve done at the DNC. Why aren’t we penetrating, I ask? And I had someone in northwest Wisconsin tell me: ‘You know what? For most of the people I know, their principle sources of information are Fox News, the NRA newsletter and the pulpit on Sunday.’ And it should come as a surprise to no-one that our message doesn’t penetrate,” Perez continued.

“It should come as a surprise to no-one that that person has elevated the issue of courts to the top because that person on the pulpit is saying ‘ignore everything else that this person has done and is doing, we have to focus on one issue of Roe vs. Wade.’ And people buy it. Because that’s their only source,” he said.