Morning Wire XX
[0] Controversy erupts after Pope Francis issues a statement on same -sex unions.
[1] Legacy media outlets claim a win for LGBT activists, but Catholics say not so fast.
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[3] It's Tuesday, December 19th, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] President Biden ends 2023 with record low polling and key demographics turning away from him.
[5] The polling couldn't be worse.
[6] Democrats today, they say 75 % we wish we had a different candidate.
[7] And Harvard quietly revamps its DEI website in the wake of the Claudine Gay scandal.
[8] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[9] Stay tuned.
[10] We have the news you need to know.
[11] Major media outlets reported on Monday that Pope Francis has authorized priests to bless same -sex relationships, but many Catholics say the media is misinterpreting the document the Pope signed.
[12] Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham is here now to explain.
[13] So, Megan, as I scan the headlines, I'm seeing the New York Times saying, Pope Francis allows priests to bless same -sex couples, CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, they all have something similar.
[14] Reuters is calling it a landmark ruling.
[15] But a lot of Catholics are saying not so fast, what's all the confusion about?
[16] Well, it comes down to whether this document, which is called the fiducius supplicans, truly represent something new and exactly what kind of blessings it allows.
[17] So in 2021, the Vatican issued a ruling saying that the church could not bless sin.
[18] And that was directly in response to liberal priests and church officials who've been pushing for the church to formally bless gay marriages.
[19] But casual comments the Pope has made, specifically those supporting civil recognition of same -sex unions, have upset some theologically conservative Catholics.
[20] So they submitted formal questions to the Pope about the issue of blessing same -sex unions.
[21] unions.
[22] And those questions are known as dubia, and that literally means doubts.
[23] So this is what Cardinal Burke told the Catholic News Network, EWTN, in October, about the questions he and a group of other conservative cardinals had submitted.
[24] We simply indicated that he hadn't responded to our questions and asked him to please do so for the good of souls, because many people are being led astray, are being confused.
[25] Not only Catholics, but other people look to the Catholic Church as a great moral teacher, are beginning to wonder what the Catholic Church really teaches.
[26] So this new document, which appears to be a response to these dubia, is not likely to allay their conservative concerns, even though, no, it technically does not accomplish anything new.
[27] So I skimmed it, and from my cursory read, it didn't appear to allow priests to offer any sort of blessing that they wouldn't have been able to give before.
[28] Correct.
[29] It really doesn't change church practice or doctrine.
[30] And that's why so many Catholics are crying foul to coverage like those headlines you mentioned.
[31] The blessings it allows are quote -unquote spontaneous pastoral blessings of individuals who ask for non -sacramental blessings while they happen to be in same -sex relationships.
[32] It describes these as people who recognize that they are spiritually destitute and in need of God's help.
[33] So those kinds of non -sacramental blessings are already allowed for pretty much any sinner who is seeking them.
[34] And some misleading have, headlines have implied that the blessing is conferred to the union, but in fact, it's only for individuals.
[35] Even further, the fiducius supplicans states explicitly that these non -sacramental blessings do not, quoting here, validate the same -sex relationships.
[36] It also stresses that the church still defines marriage as the exclusive union between a man and a woman.
[37] So likely as a response to all those headlines you mentioned, on Monday afternoon, the United States Conference on Catholic bishops issued a statement.
[38] They noted that the document was simply meant to illustrate how pastoral blessings may be used because, quoting, each of us needs God's healing love and mercy in our lives.
[39] All right, but why put out such an unclear statement?
[40] Yeah, that's a good question, and that's prompting Francis's conservative critics to say that this confusion isn't accidental.
[41] So back in 2013, when a reporter asked him about LGBTQ clergy, he gave the pretty controversial response, who am I to judge?
[42] And that was one of those statements that the Vatican later clarified to say Francis was not signaling a change in church teaching.
[43] Another came last year when he said being homosexual is not a crime.
[44] He later clarified that the church still views any sexual act outside of marriage as a sin, and it still defines marriage as being between one man and one woman.
[45] But these are the comments that have led the Pope's critics to say he's practicing a form of incrementalism here.
[46] And to give you just one example, New York Times, opinion writer Ross Douthit, who is a well -known Catholic, tweeted Monday.
[47] As usual in this pontificate, the misleading media headlines are the point.
[48] And he put misleading in quotes to suggest that Pope Francis is deliberately confusing the public on his stance.
[49] And then there's the Pope's friendly relationship with well -known LGBTQ affirming priest, Father James Martin.
[50] And Martin was out Monday saying that this latest document represents a, quote, major step forward in recognizing the deep desire in many Catholic same -sex couples for God's presence in their loving relationships.
[51] On the other side of the coin, the Pope has been notably frosty towards conservatives.
[52] He ordered the removal of the Texas bishop who criticized his handling of the issue earlier this year, and he stripped Cardinal Burke of the subsidized Vatican apartment and salary that would normally go along with his office.
[53] So conservatives are saying, taken together, it paints a picture.
[54] Correct.
[55] All right.
[56] Well, Megan, thanks for reporting.
[57] Anytime.
[58] With the 2024 presidential race in full gear, President Biden continues to struggle with record low approval ratings, and third -party candidates are threatening to cut into his support come November.
[59] Here was more on the president's standing heading into election season.
[60] It's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[61] Hey, Kabbat.
[62] So we'll start with President Biden, who's coming into his reelection campaign with some very real struggles, right?
[63] Yeah, that is putting it lightly.
[64] Virtually every metric we've got points to an uphill battle for Biden, this reelection effort.
[65] This week, his approval rating plunged to 34 % in the mammoth tracking poll.
[66] That is the lowest mark of his presidency and is 20 points lower than where he was this time two years ago.
[67] And on inflation and immigration, two of the top issues for voters, he sits at 28 and 26 percent respectively.
[68] And that is not an outlier.
[69] Pew released a poll of their own this week, showing him at just 33 % approval.
[70] And zooming out, his approval average has not been above 45 % since October of 2021.
[71] And it's worth noting who he's struggling with.
[72] Not only do just one in three independents approve of the job he's doing, he's also beginning to lose ground with a number of key voter blocks that have typically been Democrat strongholds.
[73] Yeah, that's getting pretty interesting.
[74] Walk us through some of the numbers there.
[75] Well, of every age group, President Biden consistently performs the worst among young voters.
[76] Most polls show him in the high 20s and low 30s among 18, 29 -year -olds, who historically have gone overwhelmingly for Democrats.
[77] For context, young voters went for Biden by 25 points in 2020, but a number of recent polls, including one from the New York Times this month, showed Biden trailing Donald Trump among those 18 to 29.
[78] That is a huge turnaround.
[79] Biden also appears to be struggling among black voters, another traditionally solid blue voting block.
[80] Most polls show around 60 to 70 percent support for the president among that demographic, which, again, would be a major shift considering he won about 90 percent of black voters back in 2020.
[81] Even if a Republican like Trump was able to pull in just 15 to 20 percent support there, it would present major problems for Biden from an electoral standpoint, especially in swing states like North Carolina and Georgia.
[82] All of those factors appear to have also caught the eye of Biden's former boss, President Obama, who, according to the Wall Street Journal, has been telling those in his circle that he believes Biden, quote, very well could lose the 2024 race.
[83] Now, obviously, it's still very early, but how does Biden fare against GOP candidates matched up?
[84] Yeah, more bad news for Biden on that front.
[85] Of 25 national head -to -head polls with Trump over the last month, Biden leads in just four of them.
[86] And each of those four are within the margin of error.
[87] The president now trails Trump by four points in the RCP average.
[88] That's the largest margin we've seen since Trump left office.
[89] The big struggle for Biden is that when voters compare their lives under his administration to Trump's, they prefer Trump.
[90] A new Wall Street Journal poll, for example, found that just 23 % of Americans say their lives have been helped by Biden, while 53 % say they've been hurt.
[91] Biden faces a similar deficit against Nikki Haley.
[92] He trails her by around 5 % on average, while he appears to fare slightly better against Florida's Ronda Sand, as polling shows those two in a dead heat nationally.
[93] This election has a number of third -party candidates who could shake up the race.
[94] How did they factor in?
[95] Yeah, this is interesting.
[96] So typically third -party candidates are an afterthought on election day, but this year appears to be different.
[97] His RFK Jr. running as an independent, is currently polling in the 15 to 20 percent range nationally.
[98] We have not seen a third -party candidate come anywhere close to those numbers since Ross Perrault brought in nearly 20 % of the vote back in 1992.
[99] The big question now is just which party he'll draw more support from.
[100] While polling is relatively scant on that question, the RCP average shows Trump widening his lead by about a point in a half on average when RFK is included on the ballot.
[101] And then there's Cornell West, who is also running as independent and currently polling around 3 to 5 % nationally.
[102] Now, West does not have any real shot of winning, but much to the chagrin of Biden, a large chunk of his support comes from black Democrats.
[103] Even if he's able to poll just a few percentage points come November, could have a very real impact in some of these tight battleground states with large numbers of black voters.
[104] Yeah, every point matters.
[105] Kevin, thanks for reporting.
[106] Anytime.
[107] Harvard University is under fire again this week following the discovery that the school removed references to its racially separated graduation ceremonies from its website.
[108] Here to discuss is Daily Wire Reporter, Amanda Prestige Giacomo.
[109] So Amanda, it appears that Harvard has pulled down a website page that had initially promoted these identity -separated ceremonies.
[110] Does that mean the school is abandoning the practice?
[111] What do we know about this?
[112] Hey, Georgia.
[113] So the website page originally promoted what it called affinity ceremonies for pretty much every identity -based group you can think of, with the notable exception of Jewish students and white students.
[114] The ceremonies are described as, quote, student -led staff -supported events that recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of graduates from marginalized and underrepresented communities.
[115] The ceremonies that were promoted included grads with disabilities, indigenous, first -generation, Asian, Asian -American, Pacific Islander, Desi -American, Black, LGBTQ +, Latinx, and Arab grads.
[116] Now, the school has openly promoted black in what they call Latinx ceremonies since at least 2017, and, those were unsurprisingly controversial right from the jump.
[117] Critics say they're a step backward, they promote racial segregation, and they inflame racial tensions.
[118] But nevertheless, the school has stood by the practice.
[119] Okay, but now the page has been scrubbed.
[120] So does that mean they're not doing it anymore?
[121] So there's still a page promoting black and Latinx only ceremonies on Harvard's website.
[122] But as for these other identity group ceremonies, Harvard has yet to respond to inquiries about the page removal.
[123] The most prominent speculation, though, is that it was polled because these affinity ceremonies excluded Jews.
[124] It's possible the administrators were concerned about bad PR in light of the recent scandal with Harvard's president Claudine Gay.
[125] As we've reported here, student groups on campus quickly blamed Israel for the terrorism and called for the destruction of the Jewish state.
[126] Gay then went on to testify before Congress that calling for the genocide of Jews is not necessarily in violation of the school's policies.
[127] Here's a clip of that moment.
[128] So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard Code of Conduct, correct?
[129] Again, it depends on the context.
[130] Now, changing gears a bit, there was a recent Harvard Harris poll that showed some pretty shocking trends regarding young people's attitudes towards Jews.
[131] Tell us about that.
[132] Yeah, that's right.
[133] A recent Harvard Harris poll found that 67 % of young people ages 18 to 24 believe that Jews are a press.
[134] oppressors and should be treated as oppressors.
[135] When you look at the general population that dramatically shifts, just 27 % believe the same.
[136] And again, as you age up, it lowers even more.
[137] So ages 65 and older, only 9 % said Jews are oppressors.
[138] And I should note that a lot of donors are in this older generation, and they're extremely concerned about this trend.
[139] Most prominent is billionaire Bill Ackman, who publicly speculated that Harvard would lose at least a billion dollars in donations over the Claudia Gay debacle.
[140] But Harvard may also be losing some of its luster with young people, too.
[141] This year, Harvard received its lowest number of early admission applications in years amounting to a 17 percent drop.
[142] Last year, there were more than 9 ,500 early applicants.
[143] This year, it was under 8 ,000.
[144] Well, it'll be interesting to see if these IVs sustain lasting damage from this scandal.
[145] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[146] You're welcome.
[147] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[148] Thanks for waking up with us.
[149] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.