Wearing cowboy hats bejewelled with “Free Trump” broaches and waving American flags, evangelical Christians promised to vote for Donald Trump at a key gathering on Saturday, saying that, while he is not perfect, “he’ll do the right thing for America.”
Trump was the keynote speaker at the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington, DC, a gathering of politically influential conservative Christian activists who campaign for strict abortion regulations and a tougher stance on the southern border.
There he called on his religious supporters to go to the polls in a speech that notably glossed over abortion, which has become a sensitive issue for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Trump joined a slew of speakers including Republican senators, governors, and congressmen and women, among them newly-appointed Republican national committee chair Michael Whatley.
On stage, he drew cheers from the crowds as he applauded a divisive law signed in Louisiana this week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.
“Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal’? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible,” Trump said to a room that erupted into ecstatic applause. “They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.”
The day before, the former president had posted his enthusiastic praise for the new law on his social media network, writing in capitals: “I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER.”
In the audience, attendees acknowledged that Trump has been criticised for breaking commandments; there are the accusations that he committed adultery with Stormy Daniels and others, as well as his felony convictions in New York. But no one is perfect, they said. “We’ve all broken the Ten Commandments, haven’t we? All of us need Jesus,” said Frank Collins, 69, a pastor who drove eight hours from Detroit with his 19-year-old son to hear the president speak.
“We’re not looking for a perfect person, but we’re looking for a person who has a heart for the American people and a heart for God. This is the man of the day. This is the man of the hour. And we’re praying.”
Renata DaSilva, 49, a Brazilian-American Christian podcaster from South Carolina, echoed the sentiment. “I’m not voting for a pastor. I’m voting for someone that leads the country,” she said. “Donald Trump is not perfect. I’m not perfect. I don’t think you are perfect... This perfect person does not exist.”
On the sidelines of the conference, shortly after Trump spoke, a group who had flown in from Florida to join the convention said that evangelicals will stand behind him.
“We are not looking for a preacher. We’re looking for somebody [who is] going to do the right thing for America,” Angelo Kelvin said. “Evangelicals are going to answer his call to vote,” he added as his friend shouted “Amen!” In the background.
However, Trump’s repeated opposition to signing a nationwide ban on abortion, alongside his reluctance to overtly state his views on the issue, has created tensions between the former president and the conservative Christian movement he hopes will help return him to office.
In his speech on Saturday, Trump claimed credit for appointing three right-wing justices to the Supreme Court who helped overturn the Roe v Wade decision two years ago this Monday, eliminating the nationwide right to abortion. But he once again said that he preferred to leave the issue to individual states, in comments that received a tepid response from the crowd.
“We’ve gotten abortion out of the federal government and back to the states. The people will decide, and that’s the way it should be,” Trump said, as groups shouted “No dead babies!” in the background.
“Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in exceptions for the life of the mother – rape and incest ... You have to go with your heart. You have to also remember you have to get elected,” he added.
Republican chair Whatley, whose speech ended on his anti-abortion beliefs, defended Trump against accusations of evasion on the subject. “President Trump has made very clear his position on abortion... He’s the most pro-life president that we’ve ever had,” he added.
Back in the conference hall, pastor Frank Pavone, 65 an anti-abortion activist and the national director of Priests for Life, told The Independent that he did not need Trump to be overtly vocal about his specific views but instead needed him to follow the conservative Christian agenda through facilitating legislation.
“We’re not looking for somebody who necessarily is going to live out our faith in all its particulars. We’re looking for someone who’s going to defend our right to live our faith,” he said. “He’s going to give us the freedom to live our faith.”
