DNC Chair Tom Perez Blasts Religion: 'People Buy It!' ... and Don't Listen to Us

On Thursday, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez blamed religion for hamstringing the Democratic message on abortion.

“I had someone in Northwestern Wisconsin tell me, ‘You know what, for most of the people I know their principal sources of information are Fox News, the NRA newsletter, and the pulpit on Sunday,'” Perez said at a Demand Justice conference Wednesday night.

Tom Perez comes out firmly against religion, complains that voters are too easily influenced by the "pulpit on Sunday," and pastors' sermonizing against abortion — "and people buy it!" pic.twitter.com/CnwF8MJz9Z

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 6, 2018

Given the influence of religion on the Right, “it should come as a surprise to no one that our message doesn’t penetrate,” Perez added.

“That person on the pulpit is saying, ‘Ignore everything else that this person has done and is doing. We have to focus on one issue of Roe v. Wade,'” the DNC chairman said.

“And people buy it! Because that’s their only source,” Perez quipped.

In other words, pro-life Christians are only pro-life because they don’t listen to anyone besides their pastor. They’re not smart enough to realize that Democrats are right on this issue, the DNC chair suggested.

Rather than reconsidering the issue, wondering whether the pastor has good reasons to protect life before birth, Perez suggested that religion is to blame for the stupidity of the electorate, especially the pro-life crowd.

Perez has consistently drawn a line in the sand on abortion, and polling suggests he may be alienating many self-identified Democrats from their party. Many Democrats agree with certain time limits on abortion, but the DNC chair has proven uncompromising.

“Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement last April. “That is not negotiable and should not change city by city or state by state.”

If Democrats take a hard pro-abortion stance and close themselves off from the possibility that life begins at conception — when an individual human being with unique DNA enters the world — they will likely become more hostile to religious conservatives. Even secular Americans often believe life begins at conception, however. It is a matter of science, as well as faith.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.