JD Vance at Prayer Breakfast at Republican Convention: Trump Has Earned ‘Grace’ of Social Conservatives

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) told social conservatives who gathered for a prayer breakfast on Thursday morning at the Republican National Convention that former President Donald Trump had earned their support.

Trump had delivered more for social conservatives “than any other president in my 39 years,” Vance told roughly 300 attendees at the Faith & Freedom Coalition breakfast on the last day of the convention.

He therefore had earned the “grace” of social conservatives, even if his rhetoric, and past behavior, were controversial.

His remarks came amid some controversy within the party over the Republican position on abortion. Trump has campaigned on states’ rights rather than on a national abortion ban — which has not satisfied all pro-life voters, though most have accepted it as a necessary compromise.

Democrats are counting on the abortion issue, and the possibility of federal anti-abortion legislation, to motivate their voters to back President Joe Biden’s reelection. Conversely, the Republican convention has downplayed the abortion issue.

Vance’s appearance at the prayer breakfast was a crucial gesture to pay respects to a core GOP constituency.

Vance grew up in the Pentecostal church but was baptized Catholic in 2020 — a spiritual journey he documented in an essay at the time. He had been skeptical of Trump in the 2015-16 presidential race, but — like many religious voters — changed his mind based on Trump’s record in office.

During his first term, Trump defended religious liberty and appointed conservatives to the judiciary, which led to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2023.

The theme of faith has been unusually prominent throughout this Republican convention — a reflection of the shock and relief that Americans felt in the wake of Trump’s narrow survival of an assassination attempt on Saturday.

Vance, who had spoken to the convention the previous evening as he accepted the vice presidential nomination, said that he had been unusually nervous the night before his speech, and he had turned to prayer.

“Jesus, please help me,” the first-term Senator recalled praying in the wee hours of the morning, as he considered the weighty responsibility of his new role. He felt reassured by the experience: “I felt the touch of God,” Vance said.

Many others addressed the gathering, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), and Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, who declared that the Republican Party would always be a “pro-life, pro-family, pro-faith party.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.