Former US President Donald Trump has called on evangelical Christians to vote for him en masse in November, promising to "boldly" protect their religious freedom if he is elected, AFP reported.
The former leader, who himself rarely makes church appearances, has built an important base among the religious right, promising -- and delivering -- on some of their biggest priorities, including by appointing Supreme Court justices who helped overturn federal abortion rights .
"Evangelicals and Christians, they don't vote as much as they need to," Trump told hundreds of supporters at a Washington conference organized by the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
“They go to church every Sunday, but they don't vote,” he said, adding half-jokingly that “after four years you don't have to vote. OK? After four years, don't vote. I do not care".
Trump will not be able to run for president in 2028 due to term limits.
Evangelical voters were critical to Trump's 2016 victory.
Trump vowed to protect their interests Saturday as he vowed to "boldly, boldly defend religious freedom."
"We will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, in our hospitals and in our public square," he told supporters.
He also promised to create a "new federal anti-Christian bias task force" to investigate alleged "unlawful discrimination, harassment, persecution" of American Christians.
Nearly half (49 percent) of Americans think the influence of religion in the United States is declining and that this is a bad thing, according to a poll released last month.
The number of Americans identifying as Christian has declined from nearly 90 percent in the 1990s to less than two-thirds of the population in 2022, largely due to the growing number of people who are not religious.
Trump told the crowd that his political opponents want to "shut you up, demoralize you, and they want to keep you out of politics."
"They don't want you to vote, so you have to vote," he said, adding "if you vote, no, we can't lose."
Trump will face his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden, in the first presidential debate of 2024 on Thursday. I BGNES
