Pope Francis slams Trump & Harris, urges American Catholics to choose 'lesser evil'

Pope Francis on Monday slammed both former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and said that picking one is like choosing “lesser evil”. The 87-year-old pontiff condemned Trump over his plans to deport millions of immigrants and Harris over her stance of supporting abortion rights.

The proclamation from the Vatican sovereign came when he was asked about the US Presidential Elections during his flight back to Rome from Singapore. Pope insisted that not welcoming migrants is a “grave” sin and went on to equate abortion to “assassination”. He said that the Catholics in the United States would have to choose between “lesser evil”.

“Not voting is ugly,” the 87-year-old pontiff said. “It is not good. You must vote. You must choose the lesser evil,” he continued. “Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone, in conscience, [has to] think and do this.”

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It is pertinent to note that the Catholics in the US number roughly around 52 million nationwide and are touted as one of the crucial swing electorates. In some battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, more than 20 per cent of adults are Catholic.

Francis who leads 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide is usually careful when it comes to weighing in on national elections since he believes that he has a strong sway among voters.

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While he has always been an ardent critic of abortion, the Pope is not a fan of Trump and his anti-immigration rhetoric as well. During the 2016 contest, the head of the Catholic Church noted that Trump was “not Christian” in his view. On Friday, the Pope insisted that both the presidential hopefuls were “against life”.

“Whether it is the one who is chasing away migrants or the one that kills children,” said the pope. “Both are against life.” The pope went on to call immigration “a right” and cited Bible passages that call orphans, widows and foreigners three kinds of people that society must care for. “Not giving welcome to migrants is a sin,” said the pope. “It is grave.”

With inputs from Reuters.