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Trump Pitches Grim Platform to Christian Voters in Nashville
Indicted former president rails against 'the communists and the freaks'
at Christian media convention
By Hamilton Matthew Masters
The Nashville Scene
February 23, 2024

Former President Donald Trump served as the keynote speaker for the
2024 National Religious Broadcasters' International Christian Media
Convention in Nashville Thursday. At the event, the conclusion of a
three-day conference at Gaylord Opryland Convention Center, he pitched
himself to Christian voters and previewed some of his proposed policies
should he be reelected in November.

Hundreds of people gathered for the keynote, many of them sporting red-and-white "Make America Pray Again" hats. Other speakers included
NRB president and CEO Troy A. Miller, broadcaster Hugh Hewitt and The
Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts. Gospel quartet Ernie Haase
and Signature Sound performed extended religious songs to keep the
crowd entertained.

Trump, who is currently facing numerous criminal charges, took the
stage more than an hour-and-a-half after his scheduled speaking time,
later blaming the delay on severe weather. His entrance was preceded by
a theatrical recording of the former president reciting the Pledge of Allegiance over a recording of the national anthem, performed by what
was purported to be the "J6 hostages" -- a reference to the hundreds of
people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

"The moment I win the election, I will appoint a special task force to
rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who has been
unjustly victimized," Trump said, alleging that the Biden
administration is "targeting religious believers," a statement that
received huge applause from the crowd. Trump's speech contained many of
his familiar and frequently factually inaccurate talking points and
rhetoric.

"We have to save our country, but Christians, they can't afford to sit
on the sidelines in this moment," he said.

Trump brought up the recent conviction of six anti-abortion activists
who in 2021 traveled to Mt. Juliet, Tenn., to block access to an
abortion clinic, calling their conviction "the beginning of a communist
state."

Trump referred to President Joe Biden and his cabinet and supporters as
"evil people" who he said are a "threat to democracy."

Trump continued to throw his political support behind Israel and
American evangelicals, railing against secular Americans and the "deep
state," threatening to usher in a new era of a symbiotic
church-and-state, with the creation of a "new federal task force on
fighting anti-Christian bias."

"Its mission will be to investigate all forms of illegal
discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in
America," Trump continued, adding that he will also pursue more
traditional efforts such as the appointment of "rock-solid conservative
judges in the mold of justices Antonin Scalia and the great Clarence
Thomas."

Trump also vowed to reform education, pledging "to take back our
education system from the communists and the freaks," specifically
saying that he will end federal funding for schools "pushing critical
race theory and transgender insanity." He pledged to "support a policy
of universal school choice" and promised to grant "529 education
savings accounts to be used for homeschooling expenses up to $10,000 a
year, per child, completely tax-free," as well as reiterating
conservative calls to shut down the U.S. Department of Education.

"With your prayers, your voice and your vote, we will reclaim our
government from these horrible tyrants," Trump said, promising he will
"restore faith and family to the center of American life" and declaring
that "the great revival of America begins on Nov. 5, 2024."

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