President Donald Trump speaks next to Judge Amy Coney Barrett at the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 26, 2020. – Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who was nominated Saturday to the US Supreme Court, is a darling of conservatives for her religious views but detractors warn her confirmation would shift the nation’s top court firmly to the right. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) – Former New York Gov. Alfred Emanuel Smith “spent his life fighting for hardworking Americans and battling the anti-Catholic prejudice that you see even today coming out of the Democrat Party,” President Donald Trump said Thursday night in videotaped remarks at the 75th annual Al Smith Dinner.
The Al Smith Dinner was organized by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, which was founded in 1946 by Francis Cardinal Spellman to honor the governor, who is considered to be a “patron of the ‘Little People.’”
“The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation brings hope to the neediest children of the Archdiocese of New York, regardless of race, creed, or color,” its website stated.
“From the very beginning of our republic, Catholics have uplifted and enriched our nation beyond measure. Catholics like Charles Carroll helped secure American independence. Women like Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton founded a movement that created thousands of schools and lifted children out of poverty,” Trump said.
“And the great Al Smith, the original ‘Happy Warrior’ … spent his life fighting for hardworking Americans and battling the anti-Catholic prejudice that you see even today coming out of the Democrat Party,” the president said.
“Today, this amazing group continues that proud tradition of faithful service. Your work reminds us of an essential truth: In this country, civil society—and especially our religious institutions—are an essential foundation of American freedom. Our nation is strong because of Catholics and, frankly, people of all faiths. That is why, as president, one of my top priorities is to defend religious liberty and the cherished role of faith and faith-based organizations in our national life,” Trump said.
The president pointed to his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who is Catholic, as an example of protecting religious liberty:
To protect your God-given rights, I was recently honored to nominate one of our most brilliant legal minds, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, to the United States Supreme Court, and that was an honor indeed. She is a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School where her professor, one of the most respected anywhere in the country, said she was the single greatest student he’s ever had in his class.
We will not stand for any attacks against Judge Barrett’s faith. Anti-Catholic bigotry has absolutely no place in the United States of America. It predominates in the Democrat Party, and we must do something immediately about it, like a Republican win—and let’s make it a really big one.
To support the noble mission of Catholic schools, my administration is working to advance school choice. It was my great honor to help the Catholic Church with its schools. They needed hundreds of millions of dollars nationwide, and I got it for them. Nobody else. I got it for them. I hope you remember that on November 3rd, but I got it for them, and it was an honor to do it. I did it at the request of Cardinal Dolan and others of your leaders. They really needed it. We took care of that situation. Very important.
We are once again standing with Catholic charities and healthcare providers such as the Little Sisters of the Poor. We’ve been with them all in the way in this long fight. We are fighting for Catholic adoption agencies and fighting hard, and we are defending the sacred right to life. Remember that when you vote. That’s so important, and so important to the Supreme Court. Every child, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of God.
Hours before announcing that he and the first lady tested positive for the coronavirus, President Donald Trump said in his speech on Thursday that “through advances in treatment,” the fatality rate for COVID-19 has been reduced by 85 percent since April.
“We mourn for all of those who lost a loved one, and in their memory, we will defeat the virus. Through advances in treatment, we have reduced the fatality rate by 85 percent since just April,” Trump said.
“We are on track to develop and distribute a vaccine before the end of the year, and maybe substantially before, and I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight, and next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country,” he added.
