Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met with a 1000 conservative evangelical leaders, in attempt to win over the GOP’s most reliable voting bloc at a pivotal moment in his campaign. What started as a closed-door meeting with 400 social conservative leaders mushroomed to a day long meeting with 1000 attendees, involving nearly all the traditional political influencers of the religious right.
“We are trying to seek mutual understanding,” said event organizer Bill Dallas, president of United in Purpose. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council said he wanted “to see how we could bridge the gap” between evangelicals and Trump. “We are not certain where he is. There are a lot of unknowns,” he added. “There is reason for optimism and possibly hope.”
When Trump took the stage he received a standing ovation, and then participated in a carefully orchestrated question-and-answer session in what was called a conversation. Topics included religious liberty, the military, abortion, attacks on religious minorities in the Middle East, etc.
Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee moderated the conversation.
“I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but use your brain, which God gave you,” said retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
Questions were posed by Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, Kelly Shackelford president, First Liberty Institute law firm, James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Samuel Rodriguez, Jr. president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Coalition.
Shackelford plans to ask about religious liberty and judicial nominations. “There is a real, palpable concern by people in all these different groups about the culture war against religious freedom that is going on,” he said.
Perkins said before the meeting, “One of the things I want to talk about is what has happened with our military, and how it has been used for social experimentation rather than defending America.”
Rodriguez, whose network of Hispanic evangelical churches is 40,000-strong, asked Trump what his strategy is to protect borders and build a bridge with the Hispanic community, a “wonderful community.”
Trump has repeatedly gotten himself in difficulty with evangelical voters by fluctuating on their key policy issues and repeating that he does not ask for forgiveness. However, the meeting on Tuesday, June 21, was a win for Trump.
“The tenor in the room was really positive,” said Charmaine Yoest, past president of Americans United for Life, who was in attendance. “I think he really helped himself, he was so conversational and so low key, it was so different than the rally, very substantive.”
Before the event, Trump met privately early Tuesday morning with key group of evangelical advisors in preparation to launch a new official evangelical advisory board. Jerry Falwell, Jr., president of Liberty University, Ralph Reed, president of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. Pastor Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association all participated in the steering committee meeting.
“I am so on your side, I am a tremendous believer,” Trump told them. “Christianity, I owe so much to it… The evangelical vote was mostly gotten by me.”
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” Great Controversy, page 445