The Deseret News publishes an op-ed by Hillary Clinton in which she claims to share many of the values of Mormon voters, touting her support for “religious freedom” and name-dropping Mitt Romney, Gary Herbert, and various past-and-present LDS leaders like Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson.
Reports Politico:
Reaching out to Utah’s Mormon community, Hillary Clinton touted her devotion to religious tolerance and faith-based values in an op-ed published by the LDS Church-owned Deseret News.
In her piece, published Wednesday, Clinton wrote that she has “been fighting to defend religious freedom for years.” She pointed to her support for Coptic Christians in Egypt and Buddhists in Tibet during her tenure as secretary of state as examples. She name-checked former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who went on to serve as ambassador to China and who she said was a partner as she defended Chinese Christians from persecution.
Religious freedom, Clinton said, is “one of the sacred ideals that defines us as a nation. And it’s something that Donald Trump doesn’t seem to grasp.”
Her message to residents of one of the nation’s deepest red states comes as the Republican nominee struggles there, in part because of his bombastic message. A recent UtahPolicy.com poll of likely Utah voters showed Trump with just 37 percent support, while Clinton earned the support of 25 percent of respondents.
No Democrat has won Utah since Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater there in 1964. Clinton’s husband finished in third place there in the 1992 presidential race, behind independent candidate Ross Perot.
