Trump Surprises with National Prayer Breakfast Speech
- By C Barnett --
- 08 Feb 2018 --
President Speaks on Importance of Christianity to America
President Trump can be unpredictable. You never know what will come out of his mouth. At the 66th National Prayer Breakfast, it became what he did not actually say.
Trump Surprises with Prayer Breakfast Speech[/tweetthis]
Trump gave a relatively subdued performance. Compared to last year, where the president boasted about his performance on Celebrity Apprentice and attacked Arnold Swaagenfer, there was nothing that created a firestorm this year.
The speech was relatively short and focused on the importance of faith. Predictably, President Trump showed support to his base by talking about Christian Nationalism, the belief that there is a specific purpose that God has given to the United States that needs to be enacted by Christians.
President Trump talked about the historical connection of Christianity to America “our founders invoked our creator four times in the Declaration of Independence.” He mentioned as he did previously, that the ultimate source of rights for Americans come from God.
The key difference is the lack of diversity. Previous administrations have made the National Prayer Breakfast a celebration of diverse religious leaders in America. Trump has made it almost exclusively evangelical Christians, his most popular base.
Even though he was speaking to evangelical Christians he did not mention agenda issues that are popular with them. He did not talk about moving the U.S. Embassy to Jersasulum or his attempts to repeal the Johnson Amendment, both issues that were pushed by evangelicals.
Some experts believe that the recent resignation of a White House aide over allegations of abuse and a week of unfavorable news stories made the speech more focused then last year.
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