GOP frontrunner Donald Trump appeared at the Iowa Faith and Family Coalition with his personal Bible in hand, a gift from his mother where she made special written notes to him, and a photo of his confirmation. He then went on to respond to the backlash from the media after he brushed off a supporter at a town hall who claimed President Obama was a Muslim.
He was one of several candidates to speak at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.
“I was in big trouble all over the place… Every newscast — it was the biggest story,” Trump said. “Only time I’ll ever beat out the Pope,” he joked, about having more news coverage than the Pope had on his upcoming visit to America.
Trump went on to reference his tweets from earlier in the day where he said this is the first time he has ever caused controversy by “NOT” saying anything. He tweeted more about defending religious liberty and the First Amendment, which Breitbart News previously noted.
“I’m Presbyterian, can you believe it?”
The crowd chuckled.
“I will protect… because we’re not being protected,” Trump said, referencing Christians and religious liberty.
He said his first priority if elected President of the United States would be to “preserve and protect our religious liberty.”
“We’ll be fighting as part [of a] common core, and we’re going to protect totally the First Amendment,” he vowed.
Trump was asked if he prefers executive orders or treaties when dealing with foreign relations, as well as his thoughts on the Iran deal.
He said a treaty would be his preference because it is a “much stronger agreement” because it goes through Congress and has to be approved.
“We will protect Israel,” he vowed, saying he would fix the deal with Iran. “That deal will become much much better.”
Of the other GOP presidential candidates who have said they would rip up the Iran deal, Trump said, “They don’t understand the way it works.”
“Israel is going to be safe. We’re going to be safe,” he vowed, saying Iran will never get nukes, “That I will tell you.”
He was also questioned about his thoughts on the Second Amendment.
“We need it for security; we need it for safety,” he answered, saying he would defend the Second Amendment.
He did address mental health problems, and said he would “do a lot to fund that, because we’ve got to get these people back in the hospital.”
He criticized taking guns away from the military, and referenced the shooting in Tennessee where military members were shot and killed in a gun free zone.
“If they had the guns, that wouldn’t have happened,” Trump said. “We will keep that Second Amendment.”
He also said he supports the new process regarding ethanol, because “there’s no reason not to. We need it. We need everything we can get. Ethanol is terrific.”
He was again questioned about religious liberty and what he can do to help protect Christians from having to violate their religious beliefs due to government regulations and laws.
“I feel so strongly in fact, it was mentioned in my second paragraph,” he said, referencing his speech. “Religious liberty is so important.”
“I’m a good fighter,” he vowed, “I win a lot,” suggesting he would win the war against Christianity.
“I want Christmas re-used,” Trump said of the campaign waged to remove the word “Christmas” from society in order to be more politically correct.
“Every year it gets worse and worse,” he said. “We have nobody fighting for us. I’m one of you — just remember that.”
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