Donald Trump has become the first sitting US President to address the Values Voter Summit, an event hosted by an anti-LGBT, anti-Islam organisation that has been branded a “hate group”.
The event is held each year by the Family Research Council (FRC), an evangelical Christian group whose website states:
Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects. While the origins of same-sex attractions may be complex, there is no convincing evidence that a homosexual identity is ever something genetic or inborn.
FRC believes the context for the full expression of human sexuality is within the bonds of marriage between one man and one woman. Upholding this standard of sexual behavior would help to reverse many of the destructive aspects of the sexual revolution, including sexually transmitted disease rates of epidemic proportion, high out-of-wedlock birth rates, adultery, and homosexuality.
Family Research Council believes that abortion, far from empowering women, is a destructive force in women’s lives.
Despite this, the current President of the United States basked in the group’s applause and called them “incredible people”.
He specifically thanked the FRC’s President, Tony Perkins, a man who has said pedophilia is a “homosexual problem” and said the the gay community is “intolerant, they’re hateful, vile, they’re spiteful”.
Perkins is also the man who said natural disasters are sent by God to punish gays and was then left rather miffed after a flood destroyed his home last year (see video top).
The FRC’s Executive Vice President, “Jerry” Boykin, Jr, has described Islam as “an evil concept”.
Addressing such esteemed company, Trump said little of actual substance but pledged that America was a “Judeo-Christian country” and, without any hint of irony, said no religious minority would be persecuted under his administration.
This statement is contradicted by his actions as President so far, which include:
- fighting for a travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries
- failing to condemn white supremacists who chanted “Jews will not replace us”
- overseen a period in power which has seen a surge in hate crimes
Trump also reiterated support for the Jewish state of Israel which was met with a huge cheer from the audience.
While this might appear unusual for a devoutly Christian crowd, it’s worth taking a moment to explain what happens in the evangelical version of the “End Times”.
There are around 50 million Evangelicals in the US who believe in the
literal truth of Bible prophecy and the return of Jesus.
There are a number of conditions that must be met first, one of which is that the Jews must maintain control of Israel and Jerusalem, and retake the Al-Aqsa
Mosque from the Palestinians, which is why this group are such ardent supporters of the Israeli state.
But the support is incredibly self-serving as according to some interpretations, Jews who do not convert to Christianity at the coming of the End Times are killed.
On a more practical note, Trump repeated his false claim that his administration was “ahead of schedule” and claimed:
Trump spoke at the summit as a presidential candidate in both 2015 and 2016. Other speakers at this year’s event include Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka, who both previously worked as advisers to Trump.