Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said his faith is the “bedrock foundation of my life” after President Trump accused him of being “against God” on Thursday.
In a statement released via email and obtained by The Hill Thursday night, Biden criticized Trump for saying the former vice president would “hurt the Bible” and “hurt God” as president and called the attacks “shameful.”
“It’s beneath the office he holds and it’s beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders,” Biden, a practicing Catholic, said.
“However, like the words of so many other insecure bullies, President Trump’s comments reveal more about him than they do about anyone else,” he added. “They show us a man willing to stoop to any low for political gain, and someone whose actions are completely at odds with the values and teachings that he professes to believe in.”
The former vice president said his faith has “provided me comfort in moments of loss and tragedy” and “kept me grounded and humbled in times of triumph and joy.”
In particular, Biden has said in the past that his faith has carried him through the loss of his late wife and daughter during a car accident in 1972, and most recently, after his son Beau Biden died of cancer.
Biden contrasted himself with the president in his statement, saying he learned from faith “to love my neighbor as I would myself, while President Trump only seeks to divide us.”
“My faith teaches me to care for the least among us, while President Trump seems to only be concerned about his gilded friends,” he said. “My faith teaches me to welcome the stranger, while President Trump tears families apart.”
“As I’ve said so many times before, we’re in the battle for the soul of our nation, and President Trump’s decision today to profane God and to smear my faith in a political attack is a stark reminder of what the stakes of this fight truly are,” he added.
Biden’s remarks came after Trump made a rally-like speech on the tarmac of the Cleveland airport with the goal of portraying the former vice president as a left-wing radical who is against the practicing of religion.
“Take away your guns, take away your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything,” Trump said. “Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He’s against God. He’s against guns. He’s against energy.”
The presumptive Democratic nominee and his campaign has released a plan entitled “Safeguarding America’s faith-based communities,” which vows to provide more grants to religious communities and fight religious hate crimes.