During a gathering this week, Florida Democratic Party chairman Nikki Fried voiced her criticism of the state’s six-week abortion ban, while President Joe Biden, a self-confessed Catholic, displayed the cross.
The 81-year-old president crosses himself in a Fox News video from the Tampa, Florida, event, symbolically representing the figure of Christ’s cross. Fried continued, “And then we come back here to the state of Florida, where Ron DeSantis wanted to run for president, and so 15 weeks was not good enough—we had to go to six-weeks.”
Notable conservative and religious groups, such as the Catholic Vote, expressed disapproval of the decision.
“This is filthy! During a Florida pro-abortion demonstration, President Biden displayed the Sign of the Cross! The group wrote to X, “You cannot invoke God and advocate death.”
“Today, at a speech advocating for abortion on demand, President Joe Biden evoked the sign of the cross while on his fearmongering trip across Florida.” Is abortion now a leftist sacrament? Top pro-life group Pro-Life America’s Susan B. Anthony posted a message to X.
Following a 15-minute address at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus, the president joined Fried for a brief gathering with activists and union officials. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Obama spoke “far less on abortion than he did at the rally” during his address alongside Fried.
“We still have a ton of work to do. We have established the world’s most robust economy. Biden stated, “We have to bring inflation down even more,” adding later that “Florida is in play nationally” and that “the trend is definitely in our favor.”
Biden traveled to Florida expressly to mobilize people ahead of the implementation of a six-week abortion ban next month. The six-week restriction went into effect after the Florida Supreme Court earlier this month maintained the state’s 15-week abortion ban. The Florida Supreme Court concurrently permitted the November balloting of a proposed amendment that would codify the “right” to abortion in the state constitution.
Following the two Supreme Court rulings, Democrats flocked to Florida, with Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez announcing that the state was now “winnable.” Notably, in 2020, former President Donald Trump won the state by 370,000 votes.
In addition to accusing the outgoing president of supporting Florida legislation, Biden chastised his rival for rulings made by the Arizona Supreme Court, which upholds an 1864 statute that limits almost all abortions, and the Alabama Supreme Court, which categorizes embryos used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) as unborn children.
It is up to the states, according to Trump, and state rights are at play here. He is mistaken, though. The Supreme Court made a mistake. According to Biden, “the federal constitution should guarantee the right to an abortion.”
In addition, Biden asserted that, although Trump has stated he thinks the abortion debate belongs in the hands of individual states, if elected, he would sign a nationwide abortion ban into law.
This. Is. VILE!
President Biden makes the Sign of the Cross at an abortion rally in Florida!
You cannot be Catholic and support abortion!
You cannot invoke GOD and promote Death! pic.twitter.com/aG4P542EM0
— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) April 23, 2024
During the community college address, Biden also made fun of Trump’s advocacy of Bibles.
“Trump called the Dobbs choice a miracle.” I almost wanted to purchase one to see what the heck is in it,” Biden remarked, suggesting that perhaps it originates from the Bible he is trying to sell.
“People, that was no miracle.” The removal of Roe was the result of a political agreement he reached with the Republican Party’s religious constituency. If they were willing to overlook his moral and character shortcomings in return for his pledge to choose judges to the Supreme Court who would reverse Roe, Biden went on.
It is important to highlight that Trump is not selling Bibles; rather, he and country music icon Lee Greenwood collaborated on the “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bible, a patriotic version of the Bible that includes copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and the Pledge of Allegiance. The “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bible’s website makes it clear that the firm uses Trump’s name, likeness, and image under a paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, and that the Bibles have “nothing to do with any political effort.”
