Trump Vows to Protect Christians If He Wins: Faith ‘Is the Soul of Our Country’
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Feb 26, 2024
Former president Donald Trump told a convention of religious broadcasters Thursday he will protect religious liberty if he regains the White House, telling the cheering crowd “we will protect Christians” and “we will protect God in our public square.”
Trump made the comments during a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), which invited all the candidates, including President Biden. The NRB convention was held in Nashville, Tenn.
People of faith, Trump said, are increasingly being targeted by the Left.
“Americans of faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country,” Trump said. “... Remember: Every communist regime throughout history has tried to stamp out the churches, just like every fascist regime has tried to co-op them and control them. And in America, the radical Left is trying to do both at the same time.
“... They want to tear down crosses where they can and cover them up with social justice flags. … They want to take off the names George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson off schools and off monuments.”
Polls show Trump and Biden – the two likely major party nominees – neck and neck both nationally and in key battleground states.
“When I return to the White House, I will once again aggressively defend religious liberty just like I had for four years,” Trump said. “You had no problems. But we're going to defend it in all of its forms. We will protect Christians in our schools and our military and our government and in all of those airwaves. … And we will protect God in our public square.”
Trump made a unique appeal to the religious broadcasters.
“I will never allow the big media or left-wing pressure groups to silence you, censor you, discriminate against you, or in any way tell you what you have to say,” he said. “... There's enough filth on our airwaves, American families need a haven where our children can be taught our values – not have radical values forced upon them.”
Trump also pledged to “create a new federal task force on fighting anti-Christian bias.”
“Its mission will be to investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America,” he said.
The former president even, briefly, mentioned his own faith.
“As you know, the Left is trying to shame Christians,” he said. “They try and shame us. I'm a very proud Christian. I’ve been very busy fighting and taking the arrows. I’m taking it for you.”
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Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Jeff J. Mitchell/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
