Conservative Christian support for Donald Trump in the presidential race is facing its stiffest test yet, following the release of a recording that showed the Republican nominee speaking crudely about seducing and groping women.
A day after the release of the video, which was recorded in 2005, many of Mr. Trump’s prominent evangelical backers were sticking by him, even as some expressed misgivings about his character.
“It was lewd, obscene, indefensible—but not enough to make me want to vote for Hillary Clinton,” said Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas and a member of the Trump campaign’s evangelical advisory board. “I might not choose this man to be a Sunday school teacher at my church, but that’s not what this election is about.”
“If the latest revelation presents a conundrum for some conservative Christians,” he said, “I want to remind them that the real issue for the next four years is the Supreme Court.”
Mr. Trump has thus far enjoyed strong support from evangelical Christians.
A day after the release of the video, which was recorded in 2005, many of Mr. Trump’s prominent evangelical backers were sticking by him, even as some expressed misgivings about his character.
“It was lewd, obscene, indefensible—but not enough to make me want to vote for Hillary Clinton,” said Robert Jeffress, the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas and a member of the Trump campaign’s evangelical advisory board. “I might not choose this man to be a Sunday school teacher at my church, but that’s not what this election is about.”
“If the latest revelation presents a conundrum for some conservative Christians,” he said, “I want to remind them that the real issue for the next four years is the Supreme Court.”
Mr. Trump has thus far enjoyed strong support from evangelical Christians.
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