Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says religion is under “threat” in the U.S. and must make a comeback to make the nation stronger.
Courting Christian voters in Georgia on Monday, Mr. Trump told the crowd gathered at a National Faith Advisory Board summit that the nation is “heading in the wrong direction” spiritually.
“As that goes down, I think that our country goes down,” Mr. Trump said of religion. “I think this is a country that needs religion. It is like the glue that holds it together.”
Mr. Trump also headlined a rally in Atlanta where he said he is running on solutions to the nation’s problems while Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is running “a campaign of demonization and hate.”
Mr. Trump said Ms. Harris is a “hater” and she is growing desperate. That’s why the Democrat has turned to “outrageous rhetoric” such as labeling him Adolf Hitler and a Nazi, he said.
“I am not a Nazi. I am the opposite of a Nazi,” Mr. Trump said. “The way they talk is so disgusting.”
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Mr. Trump is looking to harness the energy of social and religious conservatives who have been the backbone of the Republican Party and could be essential to winning in Georgia and other battleground states.
More than 2.8 million votes have already been cast in Georgia.
The GOP nominee has developed strong ties with evangelical and born-again Christian voters. They credit him with following through on his promise to put conservatives on the Supreme Court, which helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
They also celebrate his decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They see him as a family man.
“You are the most important people,” Mr. Trump said at the faith summit. “We have to get all the Christians to get out there and vote.”
Mr. Trump also planned to headline a rally in Atlanta.
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Ms. Harris, too, has zeroed in on religious voters in the campaign’s closing days. She recently visited a predominantly Black megachurch outside of Atlanta as part of her campaign’s “Souls to the Polls” focus on Black voters.
On Sunday, she visited a Black church in Philadelphia.
“Here in Pennsylvania, right now, each of us has an opportunity to make a difference because, in this moment, we do face a real question — what kind of country do we want to live in,” Ms. Harris said. “The great thing about living in a democracy is we the people have the choice to answer that question. So let us answer not just with our words but with our works.”
While Jewish, Muslim, and religious unaffiliated voters lean Democrat, Republicans now have a “modest” advantage with Catholics and a massive advantage with White evangelical voters, according to the Pew Research Center.
Gallup polling has shown that the number of Americans who say religion is “very important” to them has shrunk, as has the number of people who say they belong to a church or regularly attend religious services.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said the Biden-Harris administration has targeted religious Americans.
“They are trying to hurt you. They are trying to stymie you,” he said. “How could a Catholic possibly vote for Kamala?”
Mr. Trump said the fact that he survived the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July was a “miracle” and suggested God had a role in sparing him.
“I would like to think that it is because he wants our country — and maybe the world — to be helped,” Mr. Trump said. “God wants our country to be helped.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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