NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Former President Donald Trump promised to use a second term in the White House to defend Christian values and even suggested he would protect the faith’s central iconography, warning a congress of religious broadcasters Thursday night that the left wanted to “tear down the crosses.”
“Remember that all communist regimes throughout history have attempted to eradicate churches, just as all fascist regimes have attempted to co-opt and control them. And, in America, the radical left is trying to do both,” Trump told hundreds of enthusiastic attendees at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention. Nashville.
“They want to tear down the crosses where they can and cover them with social justice flags,” Trump added. “But no one will touch the cross of Christ under the Trump administration, I swear.”
The pledge to protect the symbol of Christianity recalled the former president recently telling the National Rifle Association, “No one is going to lay a finger on your guns.” It also comes as leading conservatives increasingly call on Trump to openly build his second term around Christian values, if he wins.
Trump is the favorite in a Republican primary where the once-crowded field has narrowed to him and his former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. The Christian media gathering, where sponsors handed out free red and white baseball caps emblazoned with “Make America Pray Again,” was extremely friendly territory for the former president, whose speech often felt more like a rally than a speech given at a convention.
“The left is trying to shame Christians,” Trump said. “They are trying to shame us. I am a very proud Christian.
Trump repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet and frequently defended his record on abortionnotably by appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. But he notably did not mention the Alabama Supreme Court. decision this prompted suppliers to pause in vitro fertilization after judges ruled that frozen embryos could be considered children under state law.
President Joe Biden Trump’s re-election campaign released a blank statement on the issue Thursday evening, ironically calling attention to Trump’s lack of response to the “Alabama IVF decision for which he is responsible.”
Instead, Trump used his speech to boast that he had used his first term to do “more to defend religious freedom than any administration in history.”
“The enthusiasm for this November election is much greater than it was in 2016 or 2020,” he said. “Much bigger, it’s not even a contest.”
Tennessee holds its primary on Super Tuesdayon March 5, when many states across the country will vote and could bring Trump on the verge of claiming the Republican nomination.
Some religious leaders were initially hesitant to support the multi-divorced Trump when he first ran for president in 2016, but they are now part of his mostly solidly loyal “Make America Great Again” base. .
This despite a personal history that has only become more turbulent in recent years, including Trump’s indictment in New York for silence on money payments made to a porn actress in an attempt to suppress an extramarital affair.
“When he came on the scene, people were skeptical,” said Troy Miller, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters. “But I think as they’ve learned more and listened to Donald Trump speak, the one thing I hear from people all the time… is that they have really feel like Donald Trump understands them and that’s the biggest connection people make. “He’s a guy in politics who gets us, who understands us, who doesn’t talk like he’s an elitist and do not despise us.”
