Watch: Trump Had Christian Leaders Praise Him for His Focus on Harvey. Then They Prayed With Him in the Oval Office.
‘We Thank You for Acknowledging That Ultimately It Is God Who Is the Source of Our Unity as Americans’
There are several unwritten rules for people who work for or with Donald Trump when they’re in front of a TV camera. If you’re a Trump administration employee, every chance you get you must say something negative about President Barack Obama or his administration, and praise Donald Trump. If you’re a cabinet member, you must praise Donald Trump. If you’re a member of one of his many committees or advisory boards, you must praise Donald Trump.Â
Back in June the Internet was aghast when President Trump held a cabinet meeting and the camera went around the room as every cabinet secretary thanks the president and praised him for the spectacular job he was doing.
And now, today, the same thing happened.
Trump summoned a group of a dozen or so Christian leaders to the Oval Office to witness the president signing a declaration calling for Sunday to be a national day of prayer for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Watch the Fox News video as Trump “allows” each Christian leader to thank and praise him for the spectacular work he’s doing for the victims of Hurricane Harvey – even if he’s barely acknowledged that many people have actually died because of the storm and its effects.
Among the evangelical faithful in the Oval Office were Ralph Reed, Gary Bauer, and Vice President Mike Pence.
When they all were done praising the president, Trump instructed Fox News commentator and Dallas, Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress to lead them in prayer. Which they did, with some placing their hands on the president.
“Mr. President, we want to thank you for your leadership and for declaring this day of prayer that we desperately need in our nation,” one leader stated. “Thank you for your leadership,” he repeated.
After praising God, Ralph Reed said, “we thank you and the vice president, your entire team, FEMA, everything you’re doing to deploy every resource of government to help those who have been affected, and most of all, Mr. President, we thank you for acknowledging that ultimately it is God who is the source of our unity as Americans, and I thank you for issuing this proclamation.”
Gary Bauer, an anti-gay extremist, told Trump it was an “incredible thing” to “ask the country to turn back to God, to pray.”
After each act of prayerful praising, Trump shook his fan’s hand, then looked around the room for the next person to pay homage to him.
These tributes went on for about four minutes, until finally everyone who had anything to say did.Â
Then Trump asked Jeffress to lead them in prayer. He did, in an overtly Christian prayer, right here in the Oval Office, on national television.
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