These Are the Evangelical Leaders Advancing Donald Trump’s Cause
Tuesday morning, as Donald Trump planned for his highly promoted “conversation” with evangelical faith leaders, his revamped campaign was faced with a new Clinton Super PAC ad that attacked his mocking of a disabled reporter.
Following its “dirt dump” on Clinton, the Trump camp announced a new “evangelical executive advisory board,” which it said will be convened to “provide advisory support to Mr. Trump on those issues important to evangelicals and other people of faith in America.” The executive board will, in turn, lead a much larger “Faith and Cultural Advisory Committee,” which the campaign said it will announce later this month.
“The leaders on the executive board were not asked to endorse Mr. Trump as a prerequisite for participating on the board,” the campaign statement said. “Rather, the formation of the board represents Donald J. Trump’s endorsement of those diverse issues important to evangelicals and other Christians, and his desire to have access to the wise counsel of such leaders as needed.”
Trump said the executive board members will convene on a regular basis. And some were directly responsible for managing his private meeting with hundreds of Christian leaders held later in the day in New York City.
“I have such tremendous respect and admiration for this group,” he added. “I look forward to continuing to talk about the issues important to evangelicals, and all Americans, and the commonsense solutions I will implement when I am president.”
Among those on the executive board are:
- Michele Bachmann – Former Congresswoman
- A.R. Bernard – Senior Pastor and CEO, Christian Cultural Center
- Mark Burns – Pastor, Harvest Praise and Worship Center
- Tim Clinton – President, American Association of Christian Counselors
- Kenneth and Gloria Copeland – Founders, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
- James Dobson – Author, Psychologist and Host, My Family Talk
- Jerry Falwell Jr. – President, Liberty University
- Ronnie Floyd – Senior Pastor, Cross Church
- Jentezen Franklin – Senior Pastor, Free Chapel
- Jack Graham – Senior Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
- Harry Jackson – Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
- Robert Jeffress – Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas
- David Jeremiah – Senior Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church
- Richard Land – President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
- James MacDonald – Founder and Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel
- Johnnie Moore – Author, President of The KAIROS Company
- Robert Morris – Senior Pastor, Gateway Church
- Tom Mullins – Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship
- Ralph Reed – Founder, Faith and Freedom Coalition
- James Robison – Founder, Life OUTREACH International
- Tony Suarez – Executive VicePresident, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
- Jay Strack – President, Student Leadership University
- Paula White – Senior Pastor, New Destiny Christian Center
- Tom Winters – Attorney, Winters and King Inc.
- Sealy Yates – Attorney, Yates and Yates
