Pope Francis believes American voters must choose “the lesser of two evils” when it comes to choosing between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in November.
When asked how he would do advises Catholics to vote in the US election — given Harris’ support for abortion rights and Trump’s stance on immigration — the pope said flatly, “They are both against life.”
“The one who throwing away migrants and the one who kills children,” the 74-year-old pontiff told CBS News reporters this week on the papal plane traveling in Asia.
Pope Francis said it is morally important for people to vote, but declined to endorse either candidate: “Who is the lesser of two evils, that lady or that gentleman, I don’t know.”
The Catholic leader said that not welcoming migrants has always been a “grave” sin, noting that the Bible speaks of Israel’s duty “to care for the orphan, the widow and the stranger – that is, the migrant.”
Trump is known to be tough on immigration issues. His call to a wall along the American border with Mexico is heard regularly at campaign meetings. On Tuesday, during his presidential debate with Harris, he baselessly claimed that unruly Haitian immigrants in Ohio have been stealing and eat people’s pets.
But Pope Francis also emphasized the church’s position that abortion is “killing,” equating it to “murder.”
Vice President Harris is an outspoken supporter of women’s reproductive rights and has slammed Trump for three anti-abortion judges at the Supreme Court when he was the country’s president.
Trump said in 1999 that he hates “the concept of abortion,” but identified as pro-choice. In 2011, he described himself as “pro-life”. His developing position on abortion has led him to now argue that each state should decide what is right for its citizens.
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