President Trump is unveiling a coalition of Catholics who support his reelection bid, broadcasting the launch online weeks after the coronavirus pandemic forced his campaign to postpone a live event in Milwaukee.

Catholics for Trump is being introduced Thursday evening. The effort is a critical component of the president’s strategy to lock down Midwestern battlegrounds Michigan and Wisconsin, where Catholic voters are a crucial voting bloc. The necessity of doing a virtual event to launch the coalition is the latest example of how the coronavirus outbreak has altered the contours of the 2020 campaign.

“We’re doing so much work on the virtual campaign side,” said Mercedes Schlapp, who, along with husband Matt Schlapp, is spearheading Catholics for Trump. “We have worked tirelessly to stay in touch with our coalition members.”

The unveiling of Catholics for Trump follows the use of similar virtual events to initiate Women for Trump and Latinos for Trump, which each attracted more than 1 million views, according to the campaign. The coronavirus pandemic has forced nearly every campaign to scrap live events. But the change has been especially significant for Trump, who relishes interaction with an audience and relies on live events more than most candidates.

In 2016, Trump performed better than Democrat Hillary Clinton among all voters who described themselves as affiliated with a denomination of Christianity, according to exit polling. He won 59% of Protestants, 56% of Mormons, and 54% of voters lumped into the category of “other Christian.” The president also won a majority of Catholics.

But at 50% to 46%, it was a bare majority, and the Trump campaign is working to improve that margin this November. Exit polling in 2016 showed that Catholics comprised 23% of the national electorate. After three years in office, Trump’s record on issues such as abortion, religious liberty, and judge selection has made it easier to pitch the president to Catholics who might be hostile or undecided.

Still, Trump’s provocative behavior can be problematic at times.

“Our goal is not to elect a priest,” Schlapp said. “We’re looking at his actions.”

Schlapp said she and other coalition members are going to spend the next seven months emphasizing this message to Catholic voters across the country, but most vocally in those parts of the country that matter most to Trump’s reelection.

