WATCH: Latino Christian Pastors Make the Case for Biden and Harris in New Ads

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Image via Faith2020.

By Araceli Cruz

October 22, 2020

“I am a Christian and I am a believer in Joe Biden,” the Rev. Eli Valentín says in the new Biden ad.

Christian Latinos are uniting to say the issue of abortion isn’t the only concern they have in the election, which is why they’re voicing their endorsement for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. 

RELATED: Dozens of Latino Christian and Catholic Leaders Announce Support for Joe Biden

“As believers, abortion cannot be the only pro-life issue we discuss,” Pastor José Torres of Pequannock, New Jersey says in a new ad for the Biden campaign. “Hunger and malnutrition, immigration, criminal justice reform, access to education, affordable housing, they are all pro-life issues. We cannot stay silent. We must vote.”

Pastor Torres has been in ministry for almost 30 years as a Pentecostal minister in the New York and New Jersey area and has done missionary work that centers around hunger, homelessness, and health access in South America.

Faith 2020, a Christian group made up of clergy, activists, and Americans, will be running prominent digital and radio ads in Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania to engage Latino and White evangelicals and Catholics and mobilize voters to support Biden-Harris in the upcoming election.  

The ads will also run in both Spanish and English and feature faith leaders and families who not only reject President Donald Trump’s leadership but support Biden and Kamala Harris.

“Faith 2020 was started to organize faith voters digitally at scale amidst this year’s national crises to choose hope over fear. This partnership with Priorities USA builds on Faith 2020’s efforts to mobilize a big tent multi-faith nation-wide effort and will significantly boost our outreach with and to faith voters who will decide this election in Pennsylvania and Florida,” the Rev. Adam Nicholas Phillips, executive director of Faith 2020, said in a statement. 

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are authentic people of faith, with moral clarity and policies that reflect best concerns for the common good—our ad campaign will make that case clearly,” he added.

Another ad features the Rev. Eli Valentín of Allentown, Pennsylvania. In the ad, the Rev. Valentin says in Spanish, “I am a Christian and I am a believer in Joe Biden.” 

In August, the Rev. Valentin announced he was backing Biden, breaking his decades-long approach of not publicly supporting any presidential candidate.

RELATED: Catholic Sister Explains: Judge Amy Coney Barrett Could Hurt Latinos

A Pew Research Center report shows that most white evangelical Christians continue to support Trump (though there has been a slight drop). However, 74% of Latino Catholics do not support Trump. Furthermore, 65% of Latino Catholics surveyed said they support Biden, with 23% of those saying that they “strongly” support the Biden campaign. The majority of religious Latinos are Christian (77%) and nearly half are Catholic (48%).

Another survey shows that Latinos care about other issues more than abortion. According to a Pew report, the main concern for Latinos in the 2020 election is the economy. The second issue that concerns them is healthcare, followed by the coronavirus. Out of 11 issues that concern Latinos in the election, abortion came in last. 

https://theamericanonews.com/newsletter/

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