President Donald Trump criticized the media and Democrats at a press conference on Sunday for anti-Catholic bias demonstrated in their coverage of his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
“I think it’s horrible what they’re doing. They’re playing the religious card, and it’s frankly — they’re talking about Catholics; its a very major religion in our country,” Donald Trump said during a press conference on Sunday.
The president specifically referred to an opinion article in the New York Times claiming that critics had a point when they questioned Barrett’s Catholic faith as a problem with the “national ethos” of American democracy.
The president turned to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, noting that they were also Catholics in public life.
“It’s obvious what they’re doing,” Christie said. “She’ll be strong, she’ll be tough, and she’ll stand up for what she believes in.”
Giuliani said that the New York Times opinion piece “reveals a very strong anti-Catholic bias,”
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” he continued, noting that the article also claimed that Catholics have difficulty separating public and private morality.
“I don’t have difficulty separating private and public morality,” Giuliani continued.
He scoffed at the claim, recalling the anti-Catholic arguments against President John Kennedy.
Trump said he expected more Catholic bishops to criticize any religious attacks on Barrett.
“The Catholic Church is very well united on this,” he said. “They are so thrilled that Amy was chosen.”