Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with evangelical and conservative leaders Tuesday at a private, question-and-answer session in New York City.
About 700 people are expected to attend the summit, which was planned by Trump’s former presidential opponent Ben Carson in conjunction with United in Purpose leader Bill Dallas and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
Perkins described the meeting as a “genuine effort” to see whether conservatives can be comfortable backing Trump.
“There are a lot of folks that want to be supportive of Donald Trump,” Perkins told the Washington Examiner. “They know what the alternative is, and they want to be there, but they’re not quite there yet.”
Perkins said Trump plans to attend attend several hours of the day-long meeting, which will include a question-and-answer session with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. As the goal is to find common ground with the real estate tycoon, conservatives who aren’t open to supporting Trump weren’t invited, Perkins said.
Noticeably absent will be leaders such as Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, who has urged evangelicals to oppose Trump no matter what.
“This is not an antagonistic event,” Perkins said. ” This is not designed to try to play ‘gotcha.’ This is an honest attempt to have a conversation to see if we can come together for the benefit of the country.”
Many political conservatives feel cornered with Trump’s ascent to the GOP nomination, feeling torn between supporting a man whose record on abortion issues and lifestyle are not to their liking and supporting Democratic presumed nominee Hillary Clinton.
Many, including Perkins, have withheld an endorsement of Trump, instead saying they’re open to the idea but want to see how Trump behaves now that he has secured the Republican nomination.
Perkins said he will be watching for indicators of whether Trump will embrace conservative positions on abortion and religious freedom, especially indicated by whether he tries to shift the Republican Party platform to the left.
“I think a real good faith test is going to be what does he do with the GOP platform, which is just around the corner,” Perkins said. “It’s a very good platform. Is he going to seek to weaken that?”
