Former President Donald Trump held a rally about faith Monday night in Concord — his third campaign event in North Carolina of the day.
Trump visited Helene-ravaged western North Carolina, speaking in Swannanoa, and then held a rally in Greenville before coming to Cabarrus County. He's slated to hold a Greensboro rally on Tuesday.
At the Concord Convention Center on Monday, he sounded subdued, even low-energy.
He listed how, in his opinion, Vice President Kamala Harris — who says she grew up in the Black church — is hostile to Christianity by allowing transgender women to play women’s sports, among other issues. He said the assassination attempt against him this summer in Pennsylvania brought him and his family closer to God.
At one point, the crowd of roughly 2,000 people chanted “Jesus! Jesus!”
Trump told them he would use the federal government to protect Christians.
“I would create a new federal task force on finding anti-Christian bias, that will begin immediately,” he said.
Trump added that “the faith are not a threat to our country. Americans of faith are the soul of our country, right?”
Trump was joined by his son Eric Trump, pastor Franklin Graham and Ben Carson, a former member of his cabinet.
He also said he was impressed that people in western North Carolina have turned out to cast ballots after early, in-person voting began Thursday. Trump also criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to the storm, something he has done repeatedly while falsely accusing Democrats like Gov. Roy Cooper of blocking aid to storm victims.
Before Trump’s visit, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and several local faith leaders called out what they said is his misuse of faith based organizations, like selling Trump-branded Bibles. Bishop Leah Daughtry said Trump’ actions are disrespectful to faith leaders in the country, referencing the recent Al Smith Dinner and Trump's past comments.
"Just last week, Trump turned a Catholic charity dinner into a venue for vulgar insults aimed at his political rivals. He has told members of our Christian faith that they should vote for him because they will never have to vote again," Daughtry said.
WFAE Reporter Kenneth Lee, Jr., contributed.
