A survey among American Catholics voters this week reveals “strong disapproval” of President Joe Biden across the six most highly contested battleground states.
This EWTN News/RealClear Opinion Research poll for the 2022 elections was conducted by the Trafalgar Group from October 14-18 among likely Catholic voters from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
President Biden’s average disapproval rate across those six states was a remarkable 62.2 percent, while his average approval languished at just 35.4 percent.
Moreover, 57.5 percent of likely Catholic voters “strongly disapprove” of Biden’s job performance while a mere 12.2 percent strongly approve.
The poll also revealed that substantial majorities of likely Catholic voters across the six states consider the economy (including jobs, inflation, interest rates) to be the most pressing issue facing America, far outpacing other issues such as climate change, abortion, and healthcare.
On average, 63.1 percent of Catholic voters in the six states rate the economy the most important issue, dwarfing the other concerns like immigration and border security (11.4 percent), abortion (7.3 percent), climate change (7.2 percent), healthcare (4.5 percent), and crime (3.7 percent).
Mr. Biden’s insistence that he is a “devout Catholic” despite his rejection of key Catholic teachings on abortion, marriage, school choice, and gender, has not seemed to help matters with his co-religionists.
Just this week, the leader of the U.S. Bishops’ pro-life office slammed the Catholic president for his abortion “extremism,” urging him to radically change course.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori , chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, censured Biden for saying his top legislative priority after the midterm elections will be to codify a national right to abortion.
“The President is gravely wrong to continue to seek every possible avenue to facilitate abortion, instead of using his power to increase support and care to mothers in challenging situations,” Archbishop Lori declared.
“This single-minded extremism must end, and we implore President Biden to recognize the humanity in preborn children and the genuine life-giving care needed by women in this country,” he added.
Similarly, the redoubtable Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia called the president a hypocrite in a speech at the Eucharistic Symposium at the Archdiocese of Arlington.
“When you freely break communion with the Church of Jesus Christ and her teachings, you can’t pretend to be in communion when it’s convenient,” Chaput said. “That’s a form of lying. Mr. Biden is not in communion with the Catholic faith. And any priest who now provides Communion to the president participates in his hypocrisy.”