Trump urges Christians to vote during speech at Faith and Freedom conference in Washington

WASHINGTON—Before a Philadelphia rally on Saturday, former President Donald Trump gave his ninth address to the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton. He complained that evangelicals tend to vote less frequently and interrupted chants of “U-S-A” by urging attendees to head to the polls in November.

“Christians go to church every Sunday, but they don’t vote that much,” Trump said. “Do you know how much power you could have?”

Faith and Freedom Coalition founder and chairman Ralph Reed said in a speech the day before that a Christian majority has the chance to overturn the Democratic Party’s agenda by voting for Trump. Pew Research found that the majority of white evangelicals who regularly attended church voted for Trump in 2020. In March, Reed launched a $62 million voter drive to motivate evangelicals to vote in November.

What else did Trump say? Trump promised to defend religious liberties in a second term, something he said Democrats, who he characterized as evil, would not do. He also said he would build an Iron Dome in the United States, similar to the missile defense mechanism over Jerusalem. He added that the construction would take place entirely on American soil and provide jobs to American citizens. Trump promised to give homeschool families access to 529 educational savings accounts, providing $10,000 for the education of each student in the home. The crowd of roughly 2,000 gave a standing ovation when Trump said he would again appoint conservative judges to fill federal judicial seats. He told Christians to “vote your heart” about abortion, but he personally believes in exceptions to pro-life laws to allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

What did attendees say? “Amazing, a very good comeback,” Republican voter Dina Piazza said. Piazza, a member of Latinos for Tennessee, said Trump covered every topic she hoped to hear including the economy and reversing Biden administration projects like the Green New Deal. “And he actually brought in a lot of what the original purpose of our Constitution is, which is less government, more people.”

“We started out as a Judeo-Christian country based on the Ten10 Commandments” said Jerri Dickinson, a retired social worker from New Jersey. “The left, they just want to wipe out everything that America is about.”

Her husband, John Dickinson, said abortion is an important issue this election year, but he supports more specific pro-life protections.

“I’m for no exceptions myself, but at least Trump is far better than Biden anyway,” Dickinson said. “I would say even rape shouldn't be excepted.”

“Trump follows through with what he said he’s going to do. Promises made, promises kept,” Republican voter Ronald Parnell said.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina’s report in the Stew about the Faith and Freedom coalition banquet in Iowa last year.