New Delhi: With the US Presidential elections slowly inching towards the final line, things have considerably heated. With both contenders for the top-spot, Democratic Party’s Kamala Harris and Republican Party’s Donald Trump bearing no expense and campaigning all around the country to win as many votes as possible, in a contest that with time has become an extremely close one.
While rallies of both have been full of sharp commentaries and much fanfare, at a Kamala Harris rally at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse last week things took a sharp turn when two hecklers interrupted her speech by shouting “Christ is King” and “Jesus is Lord”. The heckling was supposedly in response to her stance on abortion rights, but Harris in an attempt to defuse the situation responded, “You guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.” While Harris and her audience at the moment saw this as a quick-witted and funny response, the moment went viral on social media and has not fared well for Harris.
Disadvantage Harris
This is being seen as Harris being disrespectful to Christian values and led to a situation where she is now being referred to as “anti-Christian” and “Anti-Christ.” The incident is amply being used by her opponents to show her lack of respect for the religion of Christianity which has a wide following in the United States and whose adherents form a huge voter base in the country.
The incident has added steam to the contest and Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance was quick to make use of this at his recently held Wisconsin rally. During his rally Vance was similarly heckled by cries of “Jesus is King” but he reposed in a different way than Harris. Embracing the chants, he responded, “That’s right. Jesus is King.” Showing his own stance as pro-Christian, Vance was quick to contrast it with Harris’s dismissive attitude towards Christian voters, further adding, “There is something really bizarre with Kamala Harris’ anti-Christian rhetoric and anti-Christian approach to public policy.”
Christian voters, their impact and Trump
Like everywhere in the world, religion and politics in the US have also been closely intertwined, in recent times this has only surged. Christian voters in this respect have come out to be one of the most influential religious segments in the US and their impact on 2024’s election are also expected to be substantial.
Two-thirds of Americans currently identify as Christian and an estimated 55 per cent as “practising Christians”. What is of interest here is that compared to other voters, practising Christians are much more likely to cast their vote. They traditionally have been linked to the Republican Party, except for African American Christian voters but this too is changing, especially among some young African American men who are swaying towards the Republican Party and Donald Trump due to their stance on economy and crime.
While the turnout of Chrisitan voters will primarily benefit Republican candidates, Democrats have nonetheless been vying to woo Christian voters as well. This major political faux pas by Kamala Harris though may cost them highly. To alienate a voter base, a large part of which already sides with your opponent, is not politically wise. More so just before the elections.
For Donald Trump though he has been enjoying the support of Christian voters for some time now and this only looks to continue. When Donald Trump initially announced his decision to contest for the US Presidency on a Republican Party ticket, many voices in the Christian community of the US were unhappy. While they had always been Republican supporters, many did not align with Trump’s moral convictions which were part of his public image. Many thought he was not “one of them” but this sentiment has changed considerably.
According to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2020 validated voters, most White Americans who regularly attend worship services voted for Trump in 2020. Overall, 59 per cent of voters who frequently attend religious services cast their ballot for Trump, while only 40 per cent chose Biden. With Harris now further alienating the Christian voter base in the US, support for Trump is only expected to increase and this may become a major factor if he eventually is elected as the President of the United States of America.
