Trump’s new Evangelical coalition ‘Evangelicals for Trump’ had its kickoff rally yesterday in Miami, FL.
Evangelical leaders gathered to pray over the president, before he spoke on God, the death of Soleimani, and religious freedom.
Trump declared his belief that “We have God on our side” for 2020 and called his takedown of Soleimani, “a warning to terrorists.”
He also announced,
“In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God,. Very soon, I’ll be taking action to safeguard students’ and teachers’ First Amendment rights to pray in our schools.”
As for the Second Amendment, Trump spoke about the Texas church shooting last week that was stopped early by good guys with guns who took out the shooter in just 6 seconds,
“You had 242 people. Worshippers. They were praying and this maniac walked in and started shooting. But then, a man had a gun and he knew how to use it and in a very short period of time, that was the end. Two people died, but you had 242 people and they could have all been dead, every one of them…Your Second Amendment is under siege, but I guess that’s why don’t love me. Look, there’s so many reasons they don’t like me. This is one of many. But as long as I’m here, and I’m going to be here for a long time, your Second Amendment is protected.”
Check it out:
Watch Christian leaders pray over President Trump at the launch of the Evangelical Coalition here:
And, here's Trump's full speech at the event:
Fox News has more to say on the Evangelicals for Trump rally:
President Trump told thousands of cheering evangelical Christians in Florida on Friday that he believes “we have God on our side” as he kicks off what he plans will be his re-election year.
The rally at a "megachurch" outside Miami came a day after the Pentagon confirmed Trump had ordered an airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, described as the Muslim country's “shadow leader” who is responsible for the deaths of some 500 U.S. and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.
“Let this be a warning to terrorists," Trump told supporters at the King Jesus International Ministry church in West Kendall. “If you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our citizens.”
"Qassem Soleimani has been killed and his bloody rampage is now, forever gone,” he continued. “He was plotting attacks against Americans, but now we’ve ensured his atrocities have been stopped for good.”
Trump recounted how he ordered the “flawless” airstrike from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach to “terminate” the “depraved butcher,” who Trump claimed had been planning a “very major attack” in the region. Soleimani, as the top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, orchestrated a New Year’s Eve siege carried out by Iranian-backed militias at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the State Department confirmed.
The president's speech came amid threats of retribution from Iran for the attack. Trump addressed a crowd of about 7,000 supporters who flooded into the megachurch -- home to one of the largest majority-Hispanic congregations in the country, according to The Miami Herald.
Trump heads back Sunday to Washington, where he’ll soon face an impeachment trial in the Senate and double down on his re-election campaign. According to a recent exit poll by CNN/SSRS, eight out of every 10 white evangelical voters supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
“I really do believe we have God on our side ... or there would have been no way that we could have won,” Trump told the crowd. “People say, ‘How do you win?’ You don’t have the media. You have so many things against you' -- and we win. So there has to be something.”
CBS News also said:
President Trump marked the launch of his "Evangelicals for Trump" coalition at El Rey Jesus Church in Miami Friday, the day after he ordered a deadly strike on Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds military force and one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic.
"Soleimani has been killed and his bloody rampage is now forever gone," the president said during his speech at the church, adding Soleimani had been plotting attacks but they've been "stopped for good."
"He was planning a very major attack, and we got him," the president told a supportive audience.
Earlier in the afternoon, Mr. Trump addressed reporters, insisting, "We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."
Evangelicals, particularly white evangelicals, were a critical voting bloc in propelling the thrice-married president who says he's never asked God for forgiveness to the White House in 2016. And the president said he thinks he can improve upon that performance among evangelicals in 2020.
"I really do believe we have God on our side. I believe that, I believe that," the president said from the stage.
The president's speech comes as the commander-in-chief is ensuring his grip on the evangelical vote, after a widely circulated Christianity Today editorial denounced him in December. The day after that editorial ran, the Trump campaign announced the launch of the Evangelicals for Trump coalition in Miami.
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