WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump urged Christians attending a summit organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action to vote in November, saying there is no need to vote again if he wins the presidential election because “things will get better.”
“I don’t care how, but you’ve got to go out and vote,” Trump told an audience at Turning Point Action’s Believers Summit. “Christians, go out and vote. Just this once. You don’t have to go out and vote again.”
“In four more years, what will happen? The problem will be solved. We will be OK. My beautiful Christian people, you will not have to vote anymore,” Trump added in his 70-minute speech. “We will solve the problem perfectly. You will not have to vote.”
He made the comments during a keynote address at Turning Point Action’s Believers Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla. According to the group’s website, the event was designed to “empower participants with practical knowledge and strategies to boldly live their faith and counter the pervasive ‘woke’ narrative with grace, truth and conviction rooted in the gospel.”
Politically conservative Christian voters are a key part of Trump’s base, and he must increase their turnout to win the November election.
Recent polls released since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race have shown Trump’s lead shrinking. He is now neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris, the leading contender for the Democratic nomination.
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Trump also emerged as an unlikely religious leader, saying in a speech at the Republican National Convention in mid-July that he felt like God was on his side when bullets were flying and his life was in danger.
If he wins the 2024 election, Trump will not be able to run for president again.and An amendment to the U.S. Constitution means that a president cannot serve more than twice.
But the Republican presidential candidate also has a history of using authoritarian rhetoric on the campaign trail, suggesting in December that he would become a dictator “one day” if re-elected.
At a rally in Michigan last weekend, Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as an “incredible man” who rules 1.4 billion people “with an iron fist,” and also praised Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “tough” and “smart” leaders.
Trump faces multiple felony charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president has spread false claims that widespread voter fraud led to his loss to President Joe Biden, claims without evidence to support them.
