Trump campaign woos Mormon voters — with merchandise at odds with religion

Former President Donald Trump's campaign is trying to shore up support with Mormon voters — but they're off to an awkward start.

According to Deseret News reporter Samuel Benson, the Trump campaign has launched a line of "Latter-Day Saints for Trump" merchandise. And Benson could not help but notice that two items prominently displayed on the site were a "Latter-Day Saints for Trump White Coffee Mug" and a two-pack of "Latter-Day Saints for Trump Navy Beverage Cooler," displayed cooling what appeared to be beer cans.

The Mormon religion prohibits consumption of alcohol, and also prohibits coffee under the Word of Wisdom, which discourages the consumption of "hot drinks."

Theoretically this merchandise could be used for other, Church-sanctioned drinks.

But Benson joked in his analysis, "Nothing says 'Latter-day Saints' like coffee mugs and koozies (for hot chocolate and Diet Coke, of course)" — but at the very least, the Trump campaign didn't appear to have given the matter any thought when it branded the former items as "coffee" mugs.

ALSO READ: Dems fear Mike Johnson has laid the groundwork for a nightmare scenario on Jan. 6, 2025

The Latter-Day Saints have a complex and unique political history, and traditionally have leaned strongly Republican. However, in recent years, they have trended more and more to the center, as Trump's personal morality has prompted discomfort in their communities and the Church has increasingly broken with the Republican Party on some issues like immigration.

The state of Utah went from voting Republican by 42 points in 2012 to just 20 points in 2020, and some active, prominent figures within the Church now argue that God commands them to oppose Trump.

This has driven Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign to attempt to make further inroads with Mormon voters, who are a small but potentially important minority in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada.