Pro-Family Groups Have ‘Tough Questions’ for Donald Trump

CitizenLink, a national alliance of nearly 40 state-based family policy councils representing millions of evangelicals nationwide, issued an “open letter” to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, asking that he answer a series of “tough questions” about his policy proposals.

The group said in its letter it has tried to get the GOP presidential front-runner to participate in a “Presidential Teleconference Series” in order to share his views on issues important to values voters. Although the group says it has met with several of the other leading candidates, it claimed the Trump campaign has not responded.

“Time is ticking, and we want Mr. Trump to clear up his contradictory record on issues Americans care about,” CitizenLink President and CEO Paul Weber said. “We have invited Mr. Trump several times to join our Presidential Candidate Teleconference Series. He has yet to accept, and our constituents are left wondering.”

So far, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and former Gov. Jeb Bush have participated on the calls, as well as former Sen. Rick Santorum and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, prior to suspending their campaigns. Dr. Ben Carson is scheduled for later this month.

In lieu of participating in the teleconference, CitizenLink requested Trump’s response to the following questions:

1. After years of describing yourself as “pro-choice in every respect” — even supporting partial-birth abortion — you now say that you are pro-life. Your explanation for this change of position – that a baby who was nearly aborted ended up being a “superstar” – is confusing, particularly since you acknowledged that if the child had been “a loser,” your pro-abortion position probably wouldn’t have changed. Please explain this utilitarian view of the sanctity of human life. Do you consider life only worth protecting if it meets certain criteria, and, if so, what are those criteria?
2. How do you square your new position on life with your statements in 2015 supporting continued taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion seller?
3. The next president is expected to nominate two to four U.S. Supreme Court justices, beginning immediately with the vacancy caused by the passing of Justice Scalia. These nominations will likely decide critical issues such as abortion. You’ve recommended your sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, for the High Court. Yet, as a federal judge, she overturned the New Jersey Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, writing that it “burdened a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion.” How can we trust you to nominate judges who will respect the constitutional limits on judicial power and uphold the sanctity of human life?
4. You claim to support religious freedom, yet a leading gay-activist organization calls you “one of the best, if not the best, pro-gay Republican candidates to ever run for the presidency” – particularly because of your “standout position” when it comes to legislation that forces Christian business owners – and others of faith – to either betray their conscience or lose their business. How do you reconcile these contradictory positions?
5. You have built your campaign on lifting the economic outlook of lower-income Americans, yet you built your fortune in part on gambling, which preys on those very people. How will you make America great when you’ve run businesses associated with increased crime, bankruptcies, broken marriages and suicides?
6. The first casino in the nation to add a strip club was Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, which boasts of “36,000 square feet of adult entertainment.” What would you say to young girls and women who are concerned about a president who is directly connected with the exploitation of women?
7. As someone who claims to be a fiscal conservative, how do you justify your statements in support of a huge tax increase and government bailouts. Regarding the bank bailouts, you even stated: “I do agree with what they’re doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn’t matter, but you have to keep the banks going.” Perhaps most concerning of all is your continued admiration for single-payer, government-run healthcare systems. Please explain how this is consistent with the party of limited government?
8. One of your favorite campaign themes is that you are going to “run America” if elected. Considering our system of checks and balances, and especially in light of the last seven years of government by fiat, how will you demonstrate your respect for the U.S. Constitution and the limited power the Founding Fathers intended for the federal government in general, and the executive branch in particular?

The letter was signed by Weber, as well as the leaders of 25 pro-family groups. These groups represent the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

“With the recent passing of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the issues of marriage, life, religious liberty and the centrality of the family require even more focus,” Weber said. “Mr. Trump’s public comments about nominating judges with the same temperament as his sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, who overturned the New Jersey Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, are particularly concerning to Christians and should be to all Americans.”