Connect with us

News

President Trump Just Held a Prayer Meeting in the Oval Office With Some of the Most Anti-Gay Members of the Religious Right

Published

on

Tony Perkins, Pat Robertson, Michele Bachmann, Ralph Reed, Robert Jeffress, Richard Land, and Many Others Have ‘Open Door’ Access in the West Wing

Since first taking office President Donald Trump has often insisted he’s very busy, working hard for the American people.

A May Washington Post analysis disputed Trump’s claims, by examining his public daily schedule. It concluded, “We are left to make one of two assumptions: Trump either is hiding a lot of his presidential business from the public, or he is not doing much at all.”

Here’s what Trump’s public schedule looks like for the past two and a half weeks, via Factbase:

sch.jpg

Notice anything odd?

From Sunday through Wednesday this week there’s almost nothing on his calendar.

Trump is leaving for an overseas trip to France later Wednesday to celebrate Bastille Day on July 14. Some have assumed he’s been preparing for that trip, while others, and news reports, say the administration is in crisis mode, the White House in a bunker mentality after months of increasingly bad news surrounding the Russia investigation.

So what exactly is the President doing this week?

Hanging out with the religious right. The far Christian right. The very anti-gay, anti-choice, religious right.

“President Donald Trump, who has remained out of public view since returning from Europe late Saturday, welcomed evangelical leaders into the Oval Office on Monday for a prayer session,” CNN reports Wednesday.

Former Liberty University senior vice president Johnnie Moore posted this photo:

The photo “also showed Vice President Mike Pence, with his eyes shut, participating in the Oval Office prayer session,” CNN notes. “Others pictured in posts from the Oval Office included Jack Graham, the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, and Michele Bachmann, the former Republican congresswoman from Minnesota.”

But Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) delivers a complete accounting of the Christian far right attendees in the Oval Office prayer meeting. It’s a who’s who of the anti-gay Christian right.

Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC); Pastor John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio; Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida; former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition; Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, California; Rodney Howard-Browne, senior pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church, Mike Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, and Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte and others.

Johnnie Moore told CBN, “We enjoy an open door, not just in the Eisenhower Building, but in the West Wing.”

And Moore notes that the group spent the entire day Monday in the White House:

The Daily Mail adds, “Evangelical pastor Rodney Howard-Browne led a prayer circle alongside his wife Adonica in the White House and then shared the image on Facebook.”

One of those photos is embedded above.

“Yesterday I was asked by Pastor Paula White-Cain to pray over our 45th President – what a humbling moment standing in the Oval Office – laying hands and praying for our President – Supernatural Wisdom, Guidance and Protection – who could ever even imagine – wow – we are going to see another great spiritual awakening,” Pastor Howard-Browne wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, President Trump gave an exclusive interview with none other than televangelist Pat Robertson, the founder of the “700 Club.” Robertson’s positions are wildly antithetical to mainstream America, and his comments frequently draw the ire of liberals across the country.

More on that to come.

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

Trump Trial Could Go Well Into the 2024 Election – Or Possibly Even Past It: Former Prosecutor

Published

on

Donald Trump, and all of America, could spend the next 18 months – or longer – engrossed in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s trial of the ex-president, and that could bring the trial close to Election Day.

That’s according to a former prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Charles Coleman, who is now a civil rights attorney and MSNBC legal analyst.

Asked by MSNBC’s Chris Jansing, “How long typically might a case like this take?” Coleman offered a two-tiered answer.

“A case like this is usually going to take a year or a year and a half,” Coleman said.

That could be through September of 2024.

READ MORE: ‘Lighting the Match’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasted for Off the Rails Rant Defending Trump

“Wow,” a surprised Jansing replied. “So it’s going right up into the campaign.”

“Absolutely,” agreed Coleman. “But it’s important to understand I said a case ‘like this.’ This particular case, I expect may take longer because I am anticipating a number of different legal maneuvers by Donald Trump’s defense team.”

That theoretically means into October of 2024, or longer.

“I do see motions to dismiss at a number of different terms, more likely than not to the point that the judge probably will ultimately end up admonishing them and telling them stop filing motions to dismiss. I think that that’s going to happen,” Coleman explained.

“I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, I do believe that we are going to see an attempt to try to change the venue, in this case outside of somewhere in the five boroughs. All of that is going to extend the time deeper and deeper into election season.”

READ MORE: Manhattan DA Unleashes on Jim Jordan With Stern Warning: You May Not ‘Interfere’ With Trump Prosecution

Reuters agrees, reporting Friday morning, “any potential trial is still at minimum more than a year away, legal experts said, raising the possibility that the former U.S. president could face a jury in a Manhattan courtroom during or even after the 2024 presidential campaign, as he seeks a return to the White House.”

And because “Trump’s case is far from typical,” Reuters notes, his trial could extend “past Election Day in November 2024.”

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading

News

Manhattan DA Unleashes on Jim Jordan With Stern Warning: You May Not ‘Interfere’ With Trump Prosecution

Published

on

After a Manhattan grand jury indicted Donald Trump late Thursday afternoon on reportedly 34 felony charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took one more step to preserve the rule of law: Friday morning, via his General Counsel, he sent the top three Republican House Chairmen attempting to interfere in his office’s investigation and prosecution of Donald Trump a stern warning.

The letter, addressed to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Oversight Chairman James Comer, and Administration Chairman Bryan Steil spans six-pages. Its letterhead does not say District Attorney’s Office, but “District Attorney,” and has Bragg’s name in the upper corner, although it is signed by Bragg’s General Counsel, Leslie B. Dubeck. Politico has published the full letter.

It clearly states Bragg is drawing a red line: “What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State.”

The letter also accuses the trio of “an improper and dangerous usurpation” and “attempted interference with an ongoing state criminal investigation.” And it warns them against “unlawful political interference.”

READ MORE: ‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

“The Committees’ attempted interference with an ongoing state criminal investigation and now prosecution–is an unprecedented and illegitimate incursion on New York’s sovereign interests,” the letter reads. “Moreover, your examination of the facts of a single criminal investigation, for the supposed purpose of determining whether any charges against Mr. Trump are warranted, is an improper and dangerous usurpation of the executive and judicial functions.”

In a section titled, “The Committees Lack Jurisdiction to Oversee a State Criminal Prosecution,” the letter points to reports that the Trump team has been working in coordination with House Republicans.

“Even worse, based on your reportedly close collaboration with Mr. Trump in attacking this Office and the grand jury process, it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective.”

Bragg’s general counsel also uses the letter as a warning to all House Republicans that their actions, behaviors, and words are on the record.

READ MORE: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’

He holds up U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as an example, suggesting to others they should moderate their rhetoric.

After dismissing Jordan’s threat in a previous letter to withhold federal funds from Bragg’s office – noting the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has “has helped the Federal Government secure more than one billion dollars in asset forfeiture funds in the past 15 years” – Bragg serves up another warning.

He notes that “some committee members have explicitly stated an intent to interfere with the state proceeding. For example, responding to Trump’s statement that he would be arrested, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated that ‘Republicans in Congress MUST subpoena these communists and END this! We have the power to do it and we also have the power to DEFUND their salaries and departments!’ … and that Republicans who ‘do nothing to stop’ the prosecution ‘will be exposed to the people and will be remembered, scorned, and punished by the base.'”

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Bet He Smiles in His Mugshot’: Trump Allies Think Indictment Will Only Help His 2024 Chances

Published

on

Donald Trump’s allies say his indictment in New York should only help his chances in the 2024 election.

The former president was charged by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg in the hush money payoff to Stormy Daniels, and his Republican allies immediately circled the wagons around him, reported The Daily Beast.

“This only helps Trump — polling shows most voters, including independent voters, see this as partisan,” said one GOP strategist. “The rumor of Trump’s indictment only strengthened his position in the GOP primary, I would expect his numbers get even stronger.”

The strategist insisted the indictment would put Democrats on the ropes because they would be forced to comment on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

READ MORE: Former Trump employees secretly cheering ‘wonderful news’ of his indictment: Maggie Haberman

“It will force their hands to comment on a Soros-funded DA, or not,” the strategist said, “which speaks volumes for GOP voters.”

Another source who has spoken to Trump for decades agreed, saying the criminal indictment would put Trump in a stronger position.

“Donald Trump fights his best from the ropes, he really does,” the source said. “Some of his best knockout punches have been from the ropes.”

Even Republicans who believe Trump deserves accountability seem to think the charges will help his election chances.

“No one is above the law, everyone is entitled to due process,” said one longtime Republican strategist and adviser. “If this was politically driven, every American should be concerned… Justice shouldn’t be arbitrary.”

“Bet he smiles in his mugshot,” the operative added. “Maybe he’ll bring back THE KRAKEN.”

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.