Donald Trump's past might seem at odds with the values held by evangelical and Catholic voters, but many of them see in him as an answer to a party and a church that have abandoned them on key issues, author and EWTN anchor Raymond Arroyo tells
Newsmax TV.
Arroyo on Tuesday told "The Hard Line" host Ed Berliner that "serious Catholics" and "serious evangelicals" told him during the primaries they were voting for the now-presumptive GOP presidential nominee even though his past support for abortion and two divorces are at odds with their faith.
"They said, 'Look, I feel the party has abandoned me, and more than that, my church has abandoned me,'" Arroyo said. "They feel the church has moved in a direction that is political and outside of where they are as citizens on things like immigration, environmental policy and other issues."
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Many said they were voting against the establishment in Washington, D.C., but also against their church establishment, saying they don't want the church politicized.
"The evangelicals and Catholics I spoke to overwhelmingly are not only supporting Trump, but they're really at ease with it," he said. "They're vigorously supporting him."
Trump has promised to be pro-life and fight for the economy, which is important to those he talked to, Arroyo said. "And 'I'll keep you safe.' Those are the issues that are preeminent right now. And the immigration issue is a big deal-breaker for many of these voters, and they feel their churches have gone off in a direction that they don't feel at home with."
Arroyo hears other voices in Washington, who point out Trump's past support for abortion. He said he points out to them that 2012 nominee Mitt Romney was "militantly pro-choice" before running for president and that conservative icon Ronald Reagan supported legislation legalizing abortion in California when he was governor.
"So if those people can convert publicly, or at least in the public policy arena, why is it difficult to accept the conversion of Trump?" he asked. "If he says, 'I'm going to appoint Supreme Court justices that will be pro-life, and that's my litmus test, you either have to accept it or maybe support Hillary Clinton. When they say he's not pro-life, I would say pro-life in terms of who or what? Is Hillary more pro-life?"
Arroyo said he had no idea how swing states such as Ohio will play out in this election, but said there is likely to be a "bump" in new evangelical voters, and it is up to Trump to woo them to his side.
Arroyo, a best-selling author, has written a new book on EWTN's founder,
"Mother Angelica – Her Grand Silence: The Last Years and Living Legacy."
"It's an incredible story of humility, of faith," he said. "And, you know, we talk about politics day in and day out; this is the stuff that moves mountains and changes hearts."
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