He told voters to ‘choose the lesser evil’
The Pope has told American Catholics to ‘choose the lesser evil’ in the US election as he criticised both candidates.
Pope Francis was on a flight from Singapore to Rome on Friday when he made the comments.
He was critical of current vice president Kamala Harris over her stance on abortion rights, calling the procedure an ‘assassination’ and said that Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants was a ‘grave’ sin.
Then he asked voters to ‘choose the lesser evil’ when heading to the polls in November.
The Pope’s comments came after a 12-day tour across Southeast Asia and Oceania.
He did not name either candidate, instead referring specifically to their policies and genders but he urged Catholics to go out and vote.
The 87-year-old said: “Not voting is ugly. It is not good. You must vote.
“You must choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know.
“Both are against life, be it the one that kicks out migrants, or the one that kills children.”
Harris has vowed to sign any legislation passed by Congress that would restore national protections for abortion access, which were struck down by the Supreme Court two years ago.
Trump has said he will crack down on illegal immigration and deport millions of immigrants already in the US.
Furthermore, he has not ruled out building detention camps for undocumented immigrants.
During the 2016 election, the Pope said Trump was ‘not Christian’ in reference to his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
There are roughly 52 million Catholics across the US, and they are an important voter group.
In swing States such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as many as one in five adults are catholic.
The Pope usually shies away from getting involved in political elections but has been vocal in his criticism of abortion, something the Catholic church forbids.
