Donald Trump is a 'dream president' for evangelical Christians, says Jerry Falwell Jr
Evangelical Christians in the US have 'found their dream president' in Donald Trump according to Jerry Falwell Jr.
Speaking to Fox News after Trump's first 100 days in office, the president of Liberty University outlined why evangelicals 'love' Trump and what he is doing in office.
Following up on exit polls which indicated that 81 per cent of self-described white evangelical voters voted for Trump in the 2016 election, a Fox News poll of white evangelicals in late April showed that their support has held firm, with 73 per cent approving of Trump's performance. That figure was nearly double the approval rating of the general public.
'I think evangelicals have found their dream president,' Falwell said.
'I think reuniting Israel with America after eight years of treating them badly, appointing Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, appointing people of faith to his Cabinet in almost every area... I think he is attacking ISIS so that Christians being murdered in the Middle East will stop. All those things, evangelicals love.'
Falwell said that evangelicals did not just vote on social issues, but were in the last election concerned about border security and jobs. 'I think they are just as thrilled about all those things...' he said.
He added that evangelicals are angry at moderate Republicans in Congress who appear to be obstructing the President's agenda, and predicted that those who are doing so will not be reelected in the 2018 mid-term elections.
'These moderates just make my blood boil,' Falwell said.
'Honestly, I have more respect for Democrats than I do moderate Republicans, because at least Democrats admit what they believe, and they say it up front and you know what you're dealing with.
'These moderates pretend to be conservatives, they woo conservative voters, and then they're not conservative when they get in office. So that part just makes my blood boil.'
However, the comments come after the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative wing of the Republican Party, opposed Trump's plan to repeal Obamacare.
Falwell was asked, as the president of the largest Christian University in the world, his opinion on campus hostility against conservative speakers and threats of violence at University of California-Berkeley in recent months.
Falwell replied that it was a 'comical' situation because the left-wing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke at Liberty University and was treated with respect.
'I think that's what higher education is supposed to be about, is hearing opinions that you don't agree with, learning from the other side,' he said.
He added that 'elite' universities are 'a joke' because they 'claim to be bastions of academic freedom when really they're only bastions of political correctness'.
He concluded: 'Liberals used to defend free speech. And now it's just the tables have turned completely. They're more like fascists than liberals.'