Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence on Wednesday demanded that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign apologize for “bigoted, anti-Catholic, anti-evangelical” remarks by staff in internal emails leaked by WikiLeaks.
The emails, allegedly from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s account, include a 2011 exchange in which Jennifer Palmieri, who is now Clinton’s communications director, commented on conservatives’ embrace of Catholicism.
{mosads}After Center for American Progress senior fellow John Halpin criticized prominent conservative media figures for a “bastardization” of Catholicism, Palmieri responded, “I imagine they think it is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they became evangelicals.”
Pence, the governor of Indiana, rehashed those comments while addressing students at Liberty University, a Christian university in Virginia, lamenting “this time of condescension and, at times, overt hostility to people of faith.”
“If only on behalf of her Catholic running mate, Hillary Clinton should renounce those bigoted, anti-Catholic, anti-evangelical remarks and her campaign staff should apologize to people of faith and do it now,” he said.
Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), regularly discusses his Catholic faith and how it has impacted his politics.
Pence implored the crowd at the evangelical university on Wednesday to not “stand idly by in this great national debate,” framing the election as a historic choice.
“When the annals of this time of American history are written, the question will be where were you? Where were we in the great battle for life, liberty and freedom in America? What did you do, not what did you think?” he said.
“Men and women of faith, I will tell you: This is a time for action, not essays, and we must roll our sleeves up and be ready to fight every day for what we believe with,” he said.