Donald Trump defined freedom while speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to the Majority conference in Washington, courting evangelical Christians in his bid for the White House.
“Freedom of any kind means no one should be judged by their race or their color and the color of their skin—should not be judged that way,” Trump said.
“And right now we have a very divided nation. We’re going to bring our nation together.”
He also highlighted faith as a cornerstone of United States society.
“The importance of faith to the United States society, it’s really the people who go to church, who work in religious charity—so important—and share their values, this is the foundation of our society.”
These comments come after Trump faced criticism for comments he made about Judge Gonzalo Curiel—provoking members of both the Democratic and Republican parties to condemn the remarks as “racist.”
In the past week, the remarks have fractured the Republican party, with leaders split on how to juggle support for the Republican nominee while denouncing the statements.
The remarks were not mentioned at the conference, with Trump previously saying that he would make no further comment on it.
Trump was restrained in his remarks at the conference, even when protesters interrupted his speech saying “All right. Thank you. A little freedom of speech, please. Freedom of speech,” Trump said as protesters were being removed from the event and the crowd chanted “USA.”
“Thank you. Very rude, but what are you gonna do? Thank you. Thank you, darling. I appreciate it.”
Trump also warned of the dangers of electing Hillary Clinton as president, addressing the Democratic nominee’s positions of letting “500 percent” more Syrian refugees into the country, her stance on abortion, and the effect that Wall Street would have on the country under a Clinton presidency:
“Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street agenda will crush working families. She‘ll put bureaucrats, not parents, in charge of our lives, and our children’s education can’t have it. She’ll be trapping kids in failing schools,” Trump said. “She'll plunge our inner cities into even deeper poverty, if that’s possible.”
Faith and Freedom has come out in support of Trump, with executive director Timothy Head telling the New York Times that Trump won “a plurality of evangelical votes”:
“Mr. Trump won a plurality of evangelical votes in the Republican primaries on his path to the nomination, and we welcome him to once again address members of Faith and Freedom and to express his views on the many issues of importance to evangelical conservative voters,” Head said.
