Former President Donald Trump called on Christians to flood the polls in November, promising that if they vote him into office, they “won’t have to vote again” in four years.
Trump’s July 26 comments came at The Believers’ Summit, a gathering intended to provide attendees with “practical knowledge and strategies to live out their faith boldly and counteract the prevailing ‘woke’ narratives,” its website said. The summit, held in West Palm Beach, Florida, was hosted by Turning Point Action, the political advocacy arm of Turning Point USA, a group founded by Charlie Kirk to reach young conservatives.
Democrats tore into Trump’s comment. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, portrayed Trump’s comments as antidemocratic and a “promise to end democracy.” “When Vice President Harris says this election is about freedom she means it,” the Harris campaign said in a statement.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., shared a video of Trump’s remarks, writing, “This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism.”
Trump’s campaign pushed back. “President Trump was talking about the importance of faith, uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in an email to PolitiFact.
Prominent Republicans defended Trump, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump was “obviously making a joke.” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called the remarks “classic Trump-ism.”
“I think he’s just trying to make the point that this stuff can be fixed,” Sununu said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “You know, obviously, we want everybody to vote in all elections. But I think he was just trying to make a hyperbolic point that it can be fixed as long as he gets back into office and all that.”
With widespread interpretations of Trump’s comments, we’re using our In Context feature to let voters review his speech and come to their own conclusions.
Trump spoke for over an hour at the summit. About halfway through, he discussed voter turnout among Christians, suggesting that they do not vote “proportionately” to their numbers. “You know, I don’t want to scold you, but do you know that Christians do not vote proportionately? They don’t vote like they should. They’re not big voters,” he said.
Toward the end of Trump’s speech, he denounced Democrats who “don’t want to approve voter ID.” He then implored Christians to turn out in droves and prevent Democrats from “cheating.”
Here’s what he said:
We have to win this election, most important election ever. We want a landslide that’s too big to rig. If you want to save America, get your friends, get your family, get everyone you know and vote. Vote early, vote absentee, vote on Election Day. I don’t care how, but you have to get out and vote. And again, Christians, get out and vote just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.
I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.
Trump concluded his remarks by emphasizing the importance of faith throughout American history and lamenting that the nation is now in decline.
“We are a nation that has lost its way, but we are not going to allow this horror to continue,” he said. “Less than four years ago, we were a great nation, and we will soon be a great nation again.”
This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. See the sources for this fact check here.
