The secular liberal media love touting Joe Biden as a faithful Catholic, even though he campaigned for president on making Catholic taxpayers fund abortions and was endorsed by Planned Parenthood. At the end of Thursday's Last Word on MSNBC, host Lawrence O'Donnell offered a little retirement ceremony of sorts for Sister Simone Campbell, a leftist nun who organized "Nuns on the Bus" often provided a Catholic defense of Obama and Biden.
Before the ad break, O'Donnell oozed "Joe Biden once signed her bus. How many people can say he signed my bus? Sister Simone Campbell will join us next and get tonight's Last Word."
O'DONNELL: Sister Simone Campbell announced last week that she has completed her work as executive director of the Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice after more than 16 years and will be moving on to other adventures that might or might not involve Nuns on a Bus. Sister Simone was an important ally for President Obama and the Democrats trying to pass the Affordable Care Act. In March of 2010 she published what came to be known as "The Nun`s Letter".
She wrote, "Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions. It will uphold long standing conscience protections and it will make historic new investments, $250 million, in support of pregnant women. This is the REAL pro-life stance. And we as Catholics are all for it."
When the Affordable Care Act became law, President Obama thanked Sister Simone privately.
This led to the Obama administration forcing the nuns of Little Sisters of the Poor to violate their faith and cover contraceptives in their health plan, which they challenged in court. (Trump reversed that policy.) O'Donnell never mentioned it, or abortion. Sister Simone has spoken at several Democrat conventions, and when asked about abortion she recently said "“That is not our issue...It is above my pay grade.” She actually touted Biden for having "a very developed approach to it [abortion],” Campbell said. “And for him, it hinges on religious liberty, and that he will not force his religious belief on the whole nation."
O'Donnell also read Biden's congratulatory letter to Sister Simone on her retirement:
O'DONNELL: In leaving this job certain things happen, like you get a letter from the president of the United States. I want to read what President Biden said in his letter to you as you step down from this job. He said, "As Catholics we are called to serve rather than be served, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to be our brothers' and sisters' keepers. You exemplify these tenets of our faith. And I am so grateful for the passion you bring to everything you do. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. God bless you."
What was it like when you received that letter?
CAMPBELL: Well, I have to say, I was so touched by it. And I know that the president values his faith deeply and to think that I've been a support to him in making challenging decisions, in caring so passionately for the American people, I was really humbled and heartened by it, and I have to confess I got a tear or two in my eye. It just really touched me.
PS: Last October Sister Simone went on MSNBC to oppose Catholic lawyer Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court, and the leftist site Crooks and Liars touted This Nun Makes The Best Pro-Choice Argument Ever To Oppose Barrett:
I don't think it's right in our diverse nation for me to force my choice, my faith, onto others. I think we're in a strong position. Let's support the formation of conscience and the choices made by women, but let's make sure pregnant women have the supports they need. We know in Democratic administrations that the abortion rate goes down faster than Republican administrations because Democrats support pregnant women. That's how I care for the unborn.
