Former President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Christian conservatives and members of the faith community to rally behind his White House bid, saying he needs their support to defeat President Biden, beat back the “radical left” and stop the assault on religious liberty.
Describing himself as a “very proud Christian” and “fellow believer,” Mr. Trump said he has taken “bullets” and “arrows” for social and religious conservatives, and warned the biggest threats to the country are coming from people inside — not outside — the country.
“I am here today because I know to achieve victory in this fight, just like in the battles of the past, we still need the hand of our Lord and the grace of almighty God,” Mr. Trump said at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville.
“Our country is being destroyed by a radical left political class that has gone communist, Marxist — and even fascist,” he said.
“The radical left is coming after all of us because they know our allegiance is not to them, our allegiance is to our country, and our allegiance is to our creator,” Mr. Trump said. “What they cannot stand is that in the end, we do not answer to bureaucrats in Washington, we answer to God in heaven,” he said.
Mr. Trump has become a favorite of the social and religious conservatives despite having had basically no history with them or having displayed any public religiosity when he began his 2016 presidential bid.
He earned their trust after following through on his promises to nominate conservative justices to the Supreme Court, paving the way for the overturning of the landmark 1973 Roe V. Wade ruling that made abortion a federal constitutional right.
He also delivered on his pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy that bans federal aid to nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion, and he was the first president to attend the annual March for Life rally in Washington D.C.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump said if he is given another four-year term, Christians can count on him to build on that success and stop the “persecution” of Christians that has occurred on President Biden’s watch.
“How any Christian can vote for a Democrat — Christian or person of faith — how you can vote for a Democrat? It is crazy,” Mr. Trump said. “Americans of faith are not a threat to our country, Americans of faith are the soul of our country,” he said.
The Christian support for Mr. Trump has held firm in the face of allegations of extramarital affairs. It has been unwavering despite an assortment of felony criminal charges stemming from attempts to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, his handling of classified documents and his challenges to the 2020 election outcome.
Mr. Trump also received a free pass from many Christian conservatives after blaming candidates for running too hard against abortion for some of the party’s biggest losses in marquee Senate races in 2022 and derided conservative governors for passing 6-week abortion bans.
That steadfast support has helped make him a wrecking ball in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
He is expected to notch another sizable primary win Saturday over former Gov. Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina, part of the traditional “Bible Belt.”
Mr. Trump carried over half of the White evangelical or born-again Christian voters that comprised 55% of Iowa caucusgoers — twice the percentage of those voters he won in 2016.
It was more of the same in New Hampshire where Christian conservatives made up roughly 20% of voters in the first-in-the-nation primary — and Mr. Trump won 70% of them.
Ms. Haley, however, is vowing to stay in the race.