Why Trump has a Catholic voter problem

By John Gehring | July 20, 2016

(RNS) Donald Trump takes pride in rattling the GOP establishment, but he faces a major roadblock on the way to the White House.

Catholic voters, who have been key to picking the winning ticket in almost every modern election, reject Trump decisively. In 2012, President Obama won the overall Catholic vote 50 percent to 48 percent. Hillary Clinton now leads 56 percent to 39 percent, a sizable gap unlikely to close much by November.

If Trump and his vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, hope to persuade Catholic swing voters in battleground states such as Ohio and Florida, they must climb a steep mountain.

The news gets even worse for Trump when you break down the numbers from a Pew poll released last week. It’s not only Latino Catholics who are turned off by the blustery billionaire — unsurprising given these voters’ Democratic leanings and Trump’s toxic anti-immigrant rhetoric.

http://religionnews.com/2016/07/20/why-trump-has-a-catholic-voter-problem/