On the first Sunday since a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, influential pastor Samuel Rodriguez called on the Church to “repent” for “making the person who occupies the White House” more important than God.
Image: Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Support for President Donald Trump has been consistently strong among evangelicals, with some professing that he has been the best friend Christians have had in the White House.
On the first Sunday since a mob of his supporters seeking to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s election stormed the US Capitol and five people including a police officer died, the messages from the pulpits of Christian leaders who’ve backed Trump were as disparate as the opinions of the nation’s citizenry.
They ranged from recitations of debunked conspiracy theories of who was responsible, to calls for healing and following Jesus Christ rather than any individual person, to sermons that made no mention of Wednesday’s chaos and what it means for the future.
Mariam Fam, Elana Schor, And David Crary
FILE - In this June 10, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion with African-American supporters in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. Seated alongside Trump are Pastor Darrell Scott and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. On Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, the first day of Christian worship services since the Capitol riot, religious leaders who have supported the president in the past delivered messages ranging from no mention of the events of that day to incendiary recitations of debunked conspiracy theories. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) January 10, 2021 - 1:54 PM
Faith leaders, including Trump allies, condemn Capitol riot
By ELANA SCHOR, LUIS ANDRES HENAO and DAVID CRARYJanuary 7, 2021 GMT
WASHINGTON (AP) Religious leaders across the political spectrum, including several staunch supporters of President Donald Trump, strongly condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters.
The violence “is an assault on democracy and representative government,” tweeted Ralph Reed, a longtime political conservative strategist who heads the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“Resort to mob violence has no place in the life of our nation,” Reed added. “It does not represent our movement or the cause of Christ.”
Several pro-Trump faith leaders, while condemning Wednesday’s mob, attempted to draw a parallel between protests by anti-Trump activists earlier this year, which turned occasionally violent, and the harrowing riot at the Capitol.