A group of Catholic thinkers and activists are appealing to voters not to support Donald Trump for president.
In a piece written for the conservative National Review, Princeton University professor Robert George and George Weigel of the Ethics and Public Policy Center argue that Trump's policy positions and his often outrageous demeanor are at odds with Catholic teachings.
"Donald Trump is manifestly unfit to be president of the United States. His campaign has already driven our politics down to new levels of vulgarity. His appeals to racial and ethnic fears and prejudice are offensive to any genuinely Catholic sensibility," the authors write in the letter, which is also signed by more than 30 other allies.
Weigel also serves as a senior Vatican analyst for NBC News.
Citing Trump's promises to target the families of terrorists and his "appeals to racial and ethnic fears," George and Weigel state that Trump's record only promises "the further degradation of our politics and our culture."
"There are indeed many reasons to be concerned about the future of our country, and to be angry at political leaders and other elites," they write. "We urge our fellow Catholics and all our fellow citizens to consider, however, that there are candidates for the Republican nomination who are far more likely than Mr. Trump to address these concerns, and who do not exhibit his vulgarity, oafishness, shocking ignorance, and — we do not hesitate to use the word — demagoguery."
