All posts tagged: Political endorsements

Some nonprofit newspapers endorse candidates. So why can’t churches, new lawsuit asks.

Some nonprofit newspapers endorse candidates. So why can’t churches, new lawsuit asks.

(RNS) — A group of evangelical broadcasters who hosted Donald Trump at their national conference earlier this year is suing the Internal Revenue Service over the so-called Johnson Amendment, a tax law that bars nonprofits from supporting political candidates. Lawyers for the National Religious Broadcasters, along with two Baptist churches and a conservative group called Intercessors for America, argue in their suit that the ban on engaging in politics restricts their freedom of speech and freedom of religion. They further argue that the IRS ignores the politicking of some charities, while threatening to punish others. In particular, lawyers for the groups claim that newspapers and other news outlets that have become nonprofits in recent years, such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, endorse candidates. Why can’t churches or other Christian groups, they want to know, do the same? “Plaintiffs believe that nonprofit newspapers have a clear constitutional right to make such endorsements or statements,” read the complaint filed Wednesday (Aug. 28) in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. “Plaintiffs simply …

Biden in Detroit: As well as UAW endorsement, Arab American anger boils over Gaza

Biden in Detroit: As well as UAW endorsement, Arab American anger boils over Gaza

WARREN, Michigan (AP) — President Joe Biden celebrated his recent endorsement by the United Auto Workers union by visiting Michigan on Thursday, but growing anger over U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza in the critical battleground state with the nation’s highest density of Arab Americans meant for a shaky reception for the Democratic president. While Biden chatted inside a union hall with autoworkers making phone bank calls for him ahead of the state’s Democratic primary, about 150 pro-Palestinian demonstrators loudly protested outside as police with riot shields kept them away. Biden’s meeting with UAW workers in the Detroit came just days after union President Shawn Fain announced the group’s endorsement. Fain underscored Biden’s ties to the working class in advance of the president’s visit, saying in a statement: “The UAW knows where we stand, and who stands with us — Joe Biden.” However, Biden’s Michigan schedule did not include any meetings with Arab Americans, adding to increasing frustration within a key voting bloc over his full-throated support of Israel in its war with Hamas. …