Posted on 30 September 2020
Stephen Colbert is attempting to weaken the morale of religious conservatives who support Trump.
Yesterday, the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert tweeted, “For those who insist Trump is a religious man, I'll grant you he pays taxes like a church.”
Aside from repeating old complaints over the tax-exempt churches and Trump’s failure to pay his taxes, Colbert is making strong insinuations that Trump is not a religious man. He knows that a major faction supporting Trump are staunch Christians, and he is doing his best to dissuade them from voting for him.
It could easily be true, but where’s the proof? His marital infidelities? Those affairs may have already convinced people that Trump is irreligious, but it’s obvious that any staunch Christian or Atheist is capable of adultery.
But it doesn’t matter if Colbert’s assertions are correct. Even if religious voters are turned off by Trump’s supposed irreligiousness, they still are unlikely to turn to Joe Biden or even abstain from voting because Biden has made himself unappealing to religious voters. Biden supports many policies that religious voters cannot endorse in good conscience. He may call himself a practicing Catholic, but he publicly supports agendas and communities that regularly attack Christianity and Christian institutions.
That is why religious people will probably still turn out for Trump. Biden is running on an extremist platform which has already gained notoriety for being the “Most Pro-Abortion in History.” Trump, on the other hand, has spoken up in defense of Christians in spite of his supposed disdain for them, and he endeared himself to religious voters by publicly supporting pro-life associations and values. Christians need protection, and Trump is ready to offer it. On the other hand, as vice president, Biden was unable or unwilling to stop the administration from forcing nuns to pay for birth control.
Stephen Colbert wants to do his bit for Biden by attempting to sow doubt in the minds of religious voters. He’s hoping that his words will compel them to seriously reconsider which candidate to vote for. But one has wooed the religious voters. The other just alienated them. So even if Trump pays his taxes like a church does, he’ll probably receive numerous votes from those who put their religion as their first priority in life since he makes a point to look out for them.