NEWS AND OPINION:
“Pray for me. I pray for you,” Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told an audience of 700 evangelical leaders in Florida on Thursday. “This will be an election that will go down in the history books. For evangelicals, for Christians, for everybody of religion. This may be the most important election that our country has ever had. So go out and spread the word. And once I get in, I will do my thing that I do very well. And I figure it is probably, maybe the only way I’m going to get to heaven. So I better do a good job.”
Mr. Trump grinned. The appreciative audience chuckled, then gave him a standing ovation. And then they prayed, led onstage by a single pastor as Mr. Trump stood nearby, flanked by Mike Huckabee, a former GOP presidential hopeful himself. It was a solemn but spontaneous moment.
“God, we are asking you now for renewed strength and wisdom, and protection over the Trump family and all those who are connected to them. I pray, Lord, that you give them clarity and wisdom. I pray, Lord, that you give them a new revelation of the work of the cross and the power of the resurrection,” the pastor said, then cited Mr. Trump himself.
“We ask, Lord, for a manifestation of your presence that is so real, that Lord, he will hear from you with clarity and precision, Lord, we know this is a critical juncture for the battle of the soul of this nation. And we believe that the heart of this nation is in you church. May you awaken the hearts of the nation — your church — for a healing of the soul of this nation. God, we ask you to go before the Trumps and be their guard.”
C-SPAN covered the entire event. See the speech and the moment here
TRUMP’S FAITH-BASED FOLLOW THROUGH
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Donald Trump will follow through on his outreach to evangelicals. He will appear at the Values Voter Summit in the nation’s capital early next month — an event which attracts thousands of social conservatives who are sincere in their intent and driven in their mission. Organizers say Mr. Trump is the first Republican nominee who has addressed the summit since its inception a decade ago.
“There is a growing understanding among voters that the future of our freedoms and our identity as Americans hang in the balance. We are therefore very encouraged that Donald Trump has accepted our invitation,” says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which has organized the event, with support from eight other groups.
Confirmed speakers also include Sens. Tom Cotton, Tim Scott, and James Lankford; Govs. Doug Ducey and Matt Bevin; Reps. Diane Black and Louie Gohmert, Allen West, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Bill Bennett, Gary Bauer and Oliver North. Find the event at ValuesVotersSummit.org
FOR THE LEXICON
“Fight for $15”
— New activist group with support from the Service Employees International Unions; the organization calls for a $15 per hour minimum wage and will stage a sizable march plus their first national convention in Richmond on Friday. The event will be covered by C-SPAN at 5 p.m. ET
SEE ALSO: Justice Department denied FBI requests to investigate Clinton Foundation
LIBERTARIANS COURT THE MEDIA
The press has discovered that Libertarian presidential nominees Gary Johnson and William Weld are engaging subjects indeed, a phenomenon that has not escaped the Libertarian Party,
“It is so refreshing to see Libertarians finally getting some of the news coverage we deserve. But we need more,” Wes Benedict, executive director of the Libertarian Party, says in a new outreach to his flock. “There are still Americans out there who don’t realize that they have a third option.”
Mr. Benedict is calling on Libertarians to pursue the press and persuade journalists to give the Libertarian hopefuls a voice.
Contact your local newspaper’s editorial board. Encourage them to endorse Johnson and Weld. Contact major national newspapers such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, and so on. Write to their editorial board or write an opinion piece. Call television news show producers,” urges Mr. Benedict. “Tell them that viewers want to hear more about these candidates. “
JUST TO CLARIFY
There was considerable hubbub in the media over Donald Trump’s “Second Amendment” remark earlier this week. The comment generated much coverage; many press reports claimed the U.S. Secret Service had contacted the Trump campaign about the situation. That is not the case.
“Following Trump’s comment at a rally on Tuesday in which he suggested that gun rights activists could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing liberal anti-gun justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal official familiar with the matter told Reuters that there had been no formal conversations between the Secret Service and the Trump campaign,” writes Alana Wise, a Reuters political reporter. “Earlier CNN had reported that there had been multiple conversations between the campaign and the agency.”
Among the many news organizations which reported there was communication between the Trump campaign and the intelligence community: Time, The Daily Mail, People magazine, US Weekly and The New York Post.
WEEKEND REAL ESTATE
At Auction: Mad Dog Ranch, estate belonged to the late rock star Joe Cocker, built in 1994 on 242 acres near Crawford, Colorado. Seven bedrooms, eight baths, English manor-style, 16,000-square-feet, 33-foot turret. Brazilian cherry floors and paneling, inlaid marble, dining room that seats 18, library, billiard room. Spectacular views, multiple formal terraces, barn with silo, large outdoor arena, one-acre swimming pond, evergreen forest. Originally priced at $7 million; goes to auction on Sept. 1. Consult Supreme-auctions.com
POLL DU JOUR
• 40 percent of likely U.S. voters would vote for Hillary Clinton is the election were today; 5 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of independents and 76 percent of Democrats agree.
• 35 percent of voters overall would vote for Donald Trump; 78 percent of Republicans, 24 percent of independents and 6 percent of Democrats agree.
• 11 percent of voters either won’t vote or are undecided; 8 percent of Republicans, 17 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats agree.
• 7 percent of voters would vote for Gary Johnson; 4 percent of Republicans, 22 percent of independents and 4 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Reuters/IPSOS poll of 974 likely U.S. voters conducted August 6 to 10.
• Complaints, hushed remarks to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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