Ancient President Trump will deliver the keynote address at a major Christian conference Saturday as he courts social conservatives before formally accepting the Republican presidential nomination in July.
About an hour before speaking, Trump released a video from his private plane, “Trump Force One,” announcing that he was heading “at a fairly rapid speed” to the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., where Faith is located and Freedom Coalition (F&F). organizes its Road to Majority conference.
“It’s a great group, there’s going to be a great crowd and you’re going to be watching it very soon,” Trump said.
After his speech, which is expected to last about an hour and 15 minutes, the president will travel to Philadelphia for a rally this evening.
Pro-Trump souvenir glasses are for sale during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority political conference at the Washington Hilton on June 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The Road to Majority Conference is hosted annually by F&F, a leading Christian grassroots organization with more than 3 million members across the United States. The conference is known as the largest public policy gathering of conservative Christian activists in the United States and will focus on the policy issues that matter most to front-believing voters the 2024 election.
Ralph Reed, founder and president of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, told The Associated Press that social conservatives would like to see a federal ban on abortion and want Republican elected officials to be “courageous individuals” who “express their strongly held beliefs in favor of abortion. -views of life.”
“Make America Great Again” hats and other pro-Trump merchandise are for sale during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority policy conference at the Washington Hilton June 21, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Trump has previously said he does not support a federal ban on abortion and that individual state governments should be allowed to regulate abortion. Although his views are at odds with those of many evangelical Christian voters in the pro-life movement, he is still viewed favorably on the right for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, thereby ending federal protections for abortion.
Reed told the AP that Trump’s position does not put him at risk of losing the support of evangelical voters, who give him “more slack in the rope than they would probably give another politician.”
“I don’t think it’s going to hurt him because he has tremendous credibility on this issue,” Reed said. “He has done more for the pro-life, pro-family cause than any president we have ever had in the history of the movement.”
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Ralph Reed, president of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, speaks at the 2024 Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, June 22, 2024. (Chris KLEPONIS/AFP)
Other prominent speakers at the conference included Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard , who left the Democratic Party in 2022, South Carolina Senator. Lindsey Graham and Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty.
Youngkin, Noem, Carson and Gabbard have all been mentioned as potential running mates for Trump. It’s the latest case where a number of those reportedly vying for the job could compete on stage to secure Trump’s endorsement before the vote. Republican National Convention this summer.
Brandon Gillespie of Fox News Digital and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
