More than 1,000 faith leaders endorse Harris as vice president leans on her faith to turn out Black voters

By Eva McKend and Arit John, CNN

(CNN) — More than a thousand religious leaders endorsed Kamala Harris on Sunday, bolstering the Democratic presidential nominee’s push to emphasize how faith is informing her campaign ahead of next week’s election.

Among those backing the vice president is the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina-based faith leader who has pushed the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“In a moment like this, I am compelled to be clear that every voter must make a choice, and my choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that (Donald) Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism,” Barber said in a statement to CNN, while stressing that he was backing Harris in his personal capacity.

The endorsements come as Harris has been leaning on her faith – and her ties to Black faith communities – as she seeks to turn out Black voters in her closing pitch.

The vice president, who attended a Black Baptist church in Oakland growing up, appeared with her longtime pastor, the Rev. Amos C. Brown III of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, as part of a “souls to the polls” push in Georgia last weekend, a widespread effort to engage Black churchgoers in swing states.

And in comments at a Black church in West Philadelphia on Sunday, Harris “will continue to emphasize the importance of putting faith into action this campaign,” according to a senior campaign official.

Harris has alluded to faith throughout her campaign. The vice president said during a CNN town hall last week that after President Joe Biden called her this summer to say he would no longer seek reelection, she called Brown, seeking advice and prayer. Asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether she prays every day, Harris said she does.

“Sometimes twice a day,” she said. “I was raised to believe in a loving God, to believe that your faith is a verb.”

Former President Donald Trump has also sought to court religious voters and encourage White evangelicals, longtime allies of the Republican Party, to vote. After the former president survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July – where one rally attendee was killed – Trump and his supporters argued he was spared due to divine intervention.

In his pitch to faith voters, Trump has argued that he would protect religious liberties and highlighted his appointment of three conservatives to the US Supreme Court, which paved the way for overturning federal abortion protections. Trump will also address a National Faith Advisory Board summit in Georgia on Monday.

While campaigning in North Carolina last week, Trump argued, without evidence, that Harris is “very destructive to religion” as he addressed a group of religious leaders.

In Michigan, the former president has sought support from Muslim leaders as part of his bid to appeal to Muslim and Arab American voters disillusioned with Harris over the Biden administration’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza. Trump invited several Muslim leaders onstage during a rally in suburban Detroit on Saturday.

“Jews, Catholics, evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims are joining our cause in larger numbers than ever before and now the most wonderful thing is happening. We’re winning overwhelming support from the Muslim and Arab voters right here in Michigan. Can you believe this?” the former president said.

Barber, who participated in a vigil outside the White House last fall to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, has persistently raised concerns about how Democrats more broadly ignore talking about poor and low-wage workers to instead focus on the middle class. But he told CNN the present moment calls for clarity.

“There’s no middle ground when it comes to fascism,” Barber, the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said in an interview. “There just comes a point that you have to say, ‘I’ve got to be clear as an individual and hope that other moral and religious leaders will do the same.’”

For those faith leaders withholding support for Harris over the administration’s response to the Middle East conflict, Barber said they should ask themselves, “Who do you trust to be able to talk to and negotiate with?”

Some of the other faith leaders endorsing Harris on Sunday in their personal capacities include the Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, senior pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City; Rev. Teresa L. Smallwood, vice president and dean of academic affairs at United Lutheran Seminary in North Carolina; and the Rev. Andrea C. White, associate professor of theology and culture at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

The “souls to the polls” initiative is being led by the Harris campaign’s National Advisory Board of Black Faith Leaders, which has served as a sounding board for the vice president and an organizing force in various cities where members have influence.

Reached by phone Saturday after landing in Michigan, Bishop Leah Daughtry, a member of the advisory board, said faith leaders are fanned out across the country making the case for the Democratic nominee.

Harris’ faith “undergirds all of her policy initiatives,” Daughtry said.

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