Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump rolled out his evangelical advisory board Tuesday as he looks to assuage conservatives and supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz to unify the GOP ahead of November.
Trump released a list of 24 members of his “executive board,” which is headlined by former Rep. Michele Bachmann, Pastors Robert Jeffress and Tony Suarez, as well as Dr. James Dobson. Suarez and Dobson are notable inclusions.
Earlier in the race, Dobson supported Cruz and campaigned with him in Iowa. Suarez, on the other hand, has been a critic of Trump’s in the past thanks to the real estate mogul’s rhetoric on immigrants and the Hispanic community.
Meanwhile, Bachmann declined to endorse anyone during the GOP primary contest after her own 2012 bid, which ended after a sixth place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
Earlier in the day, Trump held an event with Dr. Ben Carson in New York where Trump answered questions from those in attendence and questioned Clinton’s faith, saying “we don’t know anything” about it.
“I have such tremendous respect and admiration for this group and I look forward to continuing to talk about the issues important to Evangelicals, and all Americans, and the common sense solutions I will implement when I am President,” Trump said in a statement.
Also included on the list are various backers of Trump, including Jeffress, Jerry Fallwell, Jr, and Ralph Reed, who recently came out in support of Trump after the presumptive nominee spoke before the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road To Majority conference in Washington two weeks ago.
The news also comes a day after Trump fired campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as he looks to make his pivot toward the general election and focuses on Clinton.
