FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses supporters at a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S., June 18, 2024. PHOTO:TopNews
In Summary:
- Trump emphasizes the importance of Christian voters participating in the upcoming elections.
- He briefly touches on abortion, advocating for state-level decision-making, diverging from the conservative Christian stance.
Former President Donald Trump urged his religious supporters to get out and vote during a speech to conservative Christian activists on Saturday.
Speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition event in Washington, he barely touched on the topic of abortion, despite its importance to the group.
Trump stuck to his position that abortion restrictions should be left to voters on a state-by-state basis, a view that contrasts with the majority of conservative Christians.
He has repeatedly warned that Republicans might face electoral losses if they push too hard on abortion rights, referencing the party’s less-than-stellar performance in the 2022 midterms.
Many attribute this to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, which eliminated most federal protections for abortion.
“We’ve gotten abortion out of the federal government and back to the states. The people will decide, and that’s the way it should be,” Trump said. He added, “Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in exceptions for the life of the mother – rape and incest… You have to go with your heart. You have to also remember you have to get elected.”
His remarks on abortion received a lukewarm response, with some in the audience chanting “No dead babies!” However, the crowd, largely pro-Trump, showed no signs of shifting their support to another candidate as the general election against President Joe Biden approaches.
Trump received strong applause for his other proposals, like eliminating the Department of Education, which many conservative Christians favor.
Throughout his speech, he urged Christians to vote in November, which prompted enthusiastic chants of “Vote!” from the crowd.
Trump also took credit for appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, who were instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade two years ago.
This action removed a nationwide right to abortion, marking a significant win for conservatives. Contrarily, Trump has on several occasions denied supporting a federal ban on abortion saying he would rather have every state address it.
According to Ralph Reed who is the founder of Faith and Freedom Coalition and an important advisor of Donald Trump; his organization will still advocate for restrictions both at both state and federal levels.
ON TO PHILADELPHIA:
Later on Saturday, Trump planned to hold a campaign rally at Temple University in Philadelphia, a historically Black area and a Democratic stronghold.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Trump received only 5% of the vote in precincts near Temple’s main campus in the 2020 election.
Trump’s campaign has made a point of courting Black and Hispanic voters in Philadelphia, encouraged by polls suggesting he might be gaining ground with these groups.
While his chances of winning the city are slim—President Joe Biden won 81.4% of the vote in Philadelphia County in 2020—Trump aims to narrow the margin in Philadelphia and its suburbs, which are critical in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
The campaign announced that Trump would use his Philadelphia speech to address Biden’s handling of inflation, the southern border, and crime—key points in his bid for a second term.
William Rosenberg, a political science professor at Drexel University, noted that Trump’s main goal is to show his outreach to Black voters nationally, similar to his rally in New York City’s Bronx borough last month.
“It’s a play to get on national TV to say you are in Philadelphia, to make the case that this is a Black community,” Rosenberg explained. “Then perhaps you convince some swing voters that Donald Trump is not so bad.”
In response, Democrats have set up posters, billboards, and kiosks around Philadelphia and Temple University to promote Biden’s policies, including student debt forgiveness, and to critique Trump’s record with the Black community.
State lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democrat, highlighted Trump’s history of promoting the conspiracy theory questioning whether Barack Obama, the first African American president, was born in the United States, as well as policies that hurt the Black working class.
“Donald Trump is in a Black place, but Donald Trump does not give a damn about Black people,” Kenyatta said at a press event at a Biden campaign office in Philadelphia, predicting Trump would “get the type of welcome he deserves” from the city.