President Trump on Monday sought to align himself with Christians and contrast the Republican Party with Democrats, saying that it is “not a mistake” that several delegates at the Democratic National Convention left the phrase “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance.
“I heard it. I heard it a number of times. I was listening. I said, ‘That was strange, sort of weird,'” Trump said during the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. “You’ve heard it all your life: ‘Under God, under God.’ All of a sudden, those two words are missing.”
Trump said he thought that the omission was “a mistake” until he heard it again on another day.
“I said, ‘That’s not a mistake,'” Trump said before alleging that the Democratic National Committee did not require its participants to recite the phrase.
Trump’s remarks come as he increasingly aims his speeches directly at his base, emphasizing his commitment to religious freedom and traditional values, in contrast with former Vice President Joe Biden, whom he has characterized as an enemy of religion. The president has been airing his thoughts about the Pledge of Allegiance since last Saturday when he said two delegates had dropped the phrase “on purpose.”
“Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it’s done,” Trump tweeted. “Vote Nov 3!”
Trump laid out the claims on Sunday in a series of tweets. In one, he tweeted a link to a speech he gave in Poland with the caption, “We want GOD!” In another, he said that the omission of the words “under God” sounded “not only strange, but terrible.”
“That’s where they’re coming from!” Trump said.
Trump’s claims met much criticism after a series of videos demonstrated Democrats saying the phrase during most segments of the convention. Biden himself said that he would lead “one nation, under God” during the conclusion of his remarks on Thursday.
But as with other recent attacks on Democrats and Biden, Trump has used these examples to show that “liberal hypocrites” want to foist “twisted, twisted, worldviews that nobody ever thought possible” on voters, he said in a speech broadcast during the Democratic convention.
“They want to let rioters burn churches while jailing you for praying in your church,” Trump said. “They want to abolish school choice while sending their children to the best private schools in the land. They want to cancel you. Totally cancel you.”
Trump supporters have also pivoted toward his religion-inflected rhetoric. In a speech given directly before Trump’s speech at the RNC, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem emphasized that the state’s government exists because it is “under God.” Noem also praised Trump for his Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore, where Trump reaffirmed his commitment to the freedoms “which God has given us, we will allow no one, ever, to take away — ever.”
Trump warned in an August speech that Biden wanted to “hurt God,” a claim the Biden campaign fought back against at the DNC, presenting Biden as a man of deep personal faith. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a longtime Biden ally, delivered a speech Thursday defending Biden’s faith, saying that unlike Trump, Biden’s “faith isn’t a prop or a political tool.”
