Pope Francis criticizes Harris and Trump, offers advice to American voters
Photo: Pope Francis (Getty Images)
Pope Francis criticized both US presidential candidates for their anti-life policies on abortion and immigration and offered advice to Americans on how to vote in the upcoming elections, according to The Hill.
The Pontiff advised American Catholics to choose the candidate they believe represents the lesser evil in the forthcoming election.
“Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ Francis said at a press conference on Friday.
Notably, he did not mention by name either Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Responding to a question about what voters should do at the polls, the Pontiff reminded them of their civic duty.
"One should vote, and choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil, the woman or the man? I don’t know. Everyone in their conscience should think and do it," he said.
The sharp tone of the Pope’s statements underscores the Catholic Church's deep concern over issues of abortion and immigration in general.
Francis has made the plight of migrants a priority of his papacy and frequently speaks out on the issue. He added, "Migration is a right described in Scripture and that anyone who does not follow the Biblical call to welcome the stranger is committing a grave sin."
The Pontiff also spoke emotionally about abortion.
"To have an abortion is to kill a human being. You may like the word or not, but it’s killing. We have to see this clearly," Francis said.
Candidates' positions on abortion
During the televised debate on Tuesday, September 10, the candidates discussed the issue of abortion bans in the US.
Harris stated that Trump should not tell a woman what to do with her body and added that Trump's abortion policies make no exceptions for rape or incest, which she described as immoral.
"I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular, the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body should not be made by the government," the Democratic candidate said.
In turn, Trump claimed that there were states in the US where abortion was legal at nine months of pregnancy and even after childbirth. However, this information was immediately refuted by the debate moderator.
Positions on migration
Additionally, during the debate, Trump accused the Biden-Harris administration of allowing tens of millions of migrants to enter the US during their tenure.
In response, Harris said she supported a border security bill that proposed increasing the number of border patrol agents by 1,500. However, she claimed that Trump blocked it with a phone call to lawmakers asking them not to pass the bill.
US presidential debate
On September 10, a televised debate took place between the leading presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Following the debate, most analysts declared the Democratic candidate the winner.
According to a survey, Harris now leads Trump by 5%, whereas before the debate, the candidates’ ratings were roughly equal.
Ukrainian expert Vladyslav Faraponov discussed Harris's strategy, which helped her win the debate.
