Belong to very conservative Mormons

Republican loyalists are unhappy with Trump's performance

• Mormons are a very conservative religious sect.

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• Mitt Romney is a political leader of the Mormons.

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An increasing number of Mormons, who are traditionally conservative and committed to supporting Republican causes, are expressing their dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump's positions, to the point that some of them have begun to prefer their Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to represent them in the White House.

This apparent inclination, especially among the women of this religious group who is very adherent to moral and family values, may cost the Republican candidate some major states, such as Arizona and Nevada, where Mormons make up about 6% of the population, experts warn.

Millary Witt, 36, a mother of five, did not vote for Donald Trump, even in 2016, due to his misbehavior and insults.

But it did not go so far as to vote for Hillary Clinton, whom most Republican voters detest.

"I voted for an independent third candidate," this family head told Agence France-Presse, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the world headquarters of the Mormon Church.

“Like many others, I thought that Trump would calm down, perhaps after taking office, implement conservative policies and be a good president,” she said.

I thought he was only doing an election review. ”

"But I was disappointed," Witt continues.

He likes to mock people, to cultivate division, and he does not respect women, refugees, or minorities. ”

These are very sensitive issues for Mormons, a minority that fled religious persecution in the early nineteenth century.

Millary Witt is firm, and will vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, "but I'm voting especially against Trump."

Four years ago, many Mormons voted for Evan McMullen, who belongs to their caste.

Nationwide, he received only 0.54% of the vote, but 21.5% in Utah, or about 250,000 votes.

Last month, the former candidate called in a tweet "Conservative and Republican comrades" to vote for Joe Biden.

He wrote, "This does not mean that we agree with all of his positions (...), but it does mean that we give priority to the constitution, truth and decency, in these elections."

As for Mitt Romney, the political reference in the ranks of the Mormons (who refuses to take any political stance), who was the Republican candidate against Barack Obama in 2012, he announced Wednesday that he did not vote for Donald Trump, without explaining who voted early.

This trend may tilt the wheel in favor of Biden, especially since Trump won in Arizona in 2016 by only 91,000 votes, while the number of Mormons in this border state with Mexico is more than 400,000.

Dan Parker, a retired judge of 67 years and a "Republican to the core," founded with his wife the "Republicans from Arizona" movement in support of Biden.

A resident of Phoenix, the former Mormon Church official hopes his move will make a difference.

He asserts that Joe Biden is "a religious man, and compared to Trump, he is a better role model for young people and adults," admitting that he lost "some friends" in his sect as a result of this situation.

Despite the Democrats' support for the right to abortion, which is totally unacceptable for Mormons, this does not justify for Parker the vote for Trump "who will have a very negative impact on our democracy if he is reelected."

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Andrea Dalton, 38, says many Mormons had hoped that Donald Trump would cause a "radical shake-up in the system."

"Some people still support it, but many people think like me that the tremor has become chaos, and it is difficult for me to identify positives in his work," explains the young woman, who lives in Tucson, Arizona.

"He represents a lot of things that he considered abhorrent," she added, referring in particular to his "inhuman" immigration policy.

It is impossible to assess the magnitude of this trend among the Mormons, but Dalton believes that "it prompted many who did not think that they would vote for the Democrats to do so."

"I see it in my family," she explains.

My father-in-law does not respect Donald Trump and considers him a liar. ”

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A thousand Mormons live in the Arizona border with Mexico.

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