While Mormons have long been some of the most loyal Republican voters, Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign believes their distaste for former President Donald Trump gives them an opening in several states.
Appearing on CNN Wednesday, Rob Taber of the organization Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz broke down exactly why some Mormon voters are rethinking their partisan loyalties this year, as Trump sits on the top of the Republican ticket for a third consecutive election cycle.
In particular, Taber expressed revulsion at a recent Trump interview in which he told Dr. Phil that "an incredible power up there" would be responsible for his victory in the 2024 presidential election.
"We turned the page on the divine right of kings about 250 years ago," he said. "I believe in miracles, I certainly believe in God... But we also believe, especially as Latter-day Saints, in moral agency, that we make the decisions. We believe that the Constitution was divinely inspired... this idea of establishing a small-r republican government where we make the decisions, where we have a balance of powers, where we have checks on power."
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He then argued that Trump goes against this kind of thinking altogether with his frequent praise of autocrats and dictators.
"In Donald Trump we have someone with strong authoritarian tendencies, and that repels a lot of Latter-day Saints," he said.
Taber then noted that an increase in the Mormon vote for President Joe Biden in 2020 was the critical difference in the state of Arizona, where Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes.
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