As the election is only two days away, Fox News needs to make sure that its Catholic audience knows what to do. So who better to preach the right wing gospel, from the book of Trump, than official Catholic Foxpriest, Fr. Jonathan Morris who, for the 4th time, preached to his Fox flock that Hillary Clinton staffers hate Catholics.
On this morning's Fox & Friends, Fox's one, true priest, Fr. Jonathan Morris, was asked about the Catholic vote. He noted that in past elections, Catholics voted Democratic, but recent polling suggests that Catholics are now throwing their support to Donald Trump. To reassure any wavering Catholics, the banner assured them that Trump is the one, true Catholic candidate: "Catholics Name Their Candidate, Poll: Trump Leads Clinton by 8 Points Among Group" and "The Catholics Choice, How It Looks Like They'll Vote on Tuesday."
Brian Kilmeade served up the anti-Clinton propaganda on a nice, gold communion plate when he suggested that the illegally leaked John Podesta e-mails could be a "turn-off." He then read a section of the e-mails, from 2011, which contained a discussion among present Clinton staffers, some of them Catholic, about what they believed to be sexist attitudes of the Catholic Church - a discussion that one might find on today's liberal Catholic colleges and among the liberal "nuns of the bus." Kilmeade asked Morris if "that doesn't get you a little bit ticked off."
This provided the erstwhile Fox padre with the opportunity to, FOR THE FOURTH TIME, make the case that the Clinton campaign is anti-Catholic. Morris, doing his usual caveat, said that while it didn't offend him, he feels that the statement was "ignorant" and "bigotry, no doubt." Doocy said that Podesta was saying that "Catholics are in the dark ages" - a view, no doubt, held by one out of every 10 Americans who is an ex-Catholic.
Morris recounted how he recently spoke to a friend who doesn't know who to vote for. He described his pal as a practicing Catholic with five kids and who (Morris shouted) "always voted pro-life," and who "would never vote for anybody who is pro-abortion." Morris added that while his friend says that he can't vote for Clinton because of her position on abortion (Ainsley Earhardt chimed in "late term abortion"), he expects candidates to meet a basic threshold on "decency." Morris asserted that "that's where a lot of people are at."
To Earhardt's question of what "Catholics want in their candidate," Morris, in working in requisite right wing talking points, replied that church going Catholics want religious and political freedom, limited government, and the "right to determine, for themselves, what type of world they're going to be living in." (Some might be concerned about poverty and the plight of immigrants but the sweet, little padre didn't mention that.)
Pretty slick. There was no specific commentary about how Catholics feel about Trump's sordid sexual views and history, but rather, a vague reference to the need for basic standards for "decency" which, we know, is not something one associates with Donald Trump. Can't offend the Donald, can we?! The important take-away was the message that Catholics really shouldn't be voting for a candidate whose workers are bigoted against Catholics. That, of course, isn't true, but who cares when there's propaganda to pimp and as we see with Fr. Morris' Fox sermonettes, he knows how to pimp that propaganda.
There's a saying about not serving two masters but Fr. Morris knows how to get er done!
So Catholics in private email can’t criticize their faith? Seriously Fox News?
It’s a good thing there’s an entire ocean in between the two. That meddlesome old Pope.