Lou Holtz, a former college football coach, caused controversy during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night when he declared that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is a "Catholic in name only."
Biden has been vocal about his faith, which he says has helped him through difficult times in his life, like when his son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015. Holtz made his judgment while delivering a speech praising President Trump, saying he is a man who "genuinely cares about people" and is someone Americans can "trust." Not long after Holtz was finished, liberals and conservatives alike jumped to Biden's defense on Twitter.
On MSNBC, Jesuit priest James Martin said he doesn't believe this is something "you should say about anybody." Holtz, he continued, "cannot look into the soul of Joe Biden ... I think it's a really terrible thing to say about someone. He has no clue what's going on inside of Joe Biden's heart."
Holtz has been involved in Republican politics for decades. In 1983, he resigned as the University of Arkansas' football coach after being criticized for appearing in commercials endorsing the re-election of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). At the time Helms, who once said the 1964 Civil Rights Act was "the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress," was leading the effort to keep Martin Luther King Jr. Day from becoming a national holiday.