Trump Pledges To ‘Respect And Defend Christian Americans’

In a June 10 keynote speech at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s 2016 Road to Majority Conference, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump announced that he would “restore faith to its proper mantle” in the U.S. if elected president.

“Bottom line is that I will be working for you …” Trump said, according to the Christian Post. “Together, friends, we will chart new optimistic course for America. We will put America first. We will restore faith to its proper mantle in our society. That is what we have to do and we will do that soon. We will respect and defend Christian Americans — Christians.”

Throughout the election cycle, many conservative Christian voters have questioned Trump’s commitment to religion, particularly after several gaffes when questioned about the Bible, notes Yahoo! News. In August 2015, the billionaire businessman was unable to name any one Bible verse when asked for his favorite, and in January, he referred to II Corinthians – the Bible book commonly referred to as “Second Corinthians” – as “Two Corinthians,” making the audience giggle.

Regardless of his personal beliefs, Trump, who expects to face off against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in November, promised to work hard for Christians.

“People who go to church, who work and work in religious charities and so forth and share their values, these are the foundations of our society,” said the real estate mogul, who identifies as Presbyterian, according to the Christian Post. “We will restore respect for people of faith, who dutifully raise their children, follow our laws and rules — and we have to really take care of them. We have to take care of our neighbors. Right now, our neighbors are not being taken care of. We have to restore the rule of law on our border, in our government.”

After firing some shots at Clinton for her ties to large donors and Planned Parenthood, Trump promised to “uphold the sanctity and dignity of life [and] marriage and family as the building block of happiness and success,” praising those who “have that great religious feel” that often leads to an “incredible marriage and children.”

“We will give parents control over their schools,” Trump explained. “We will uphold the values our founders gave us, which we are not doing now. We will work together to rebuild and restore everyone, not a certain group — everyone, the whole country.”

Sources: Christian Post, Yahoo! News / Photo credit: Max Goldberg/Flickr