Jack Graham prays for Trump at Paula White's National Faith Summit

Evangelicals who supported Donald Trump rallied at a charismatic megachurch in Atlanta, Monday afternoon for one National Faith Summit hosted by his faith counselor and decades-long friend, Paula White Cain, who asked softball questions to an audience she claimed included “thousands of pastors… and faith leaders.”

Jack Graham

Among the participants was Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Graham, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, stood to Trump’s left during a prayer time and was the first to pray for him.

Graham prayed, “We thank you, O God, and we come to you in the name of Jesus. … We thank you for our country. We love You, Jesus, and we love our country too. We thank you for raising a man, Donald J. Trump, to be a warrior for the word of God and the wisdom that comes from God. Thank you for protecting him, for keeping your hand of blessing on him, and as you once again elevate him as our President, we pray that you will give him strength, wisdom, and joy along the journey.

The summit was organized by White National Faith Advisory Councilwhich claims to represent “32,000 faith leaders” who “proudly want to continue the work we started in the Trump White House.”

During the question-and-answer session, Trump told White that he would revive the White House faith office that she helped him establish during his first term if he is re-elected next Tuesday, November 5. He said he would ask her again to lead and find staff for the office.

“We pray that you will grant him strength, wisdom and joy in his journey as you elevate him once again as our President.”

“We have to save religion in this country,” Trump said. “Religion is under serious threat (and) it is the fabric of our country, what holds it together.”

The event began with Trump taking the stage with Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” White waved and raised her hands, as if singing a Christian worship song, as the audience gave a standing ovation.

White has testified repeatedly to Trump’s robust faith and God’s presence in his life, but his meandering responses offered little substance. Summarizing his faith and church attendance during his childhood and youth, the most he could muster was, “It made me feel good.”

“God wants our country to be helped,” Trump said later. “It would be very nice to say that.”

Trump also falsely claimed in the interview that he had abolished “the Johnson Amendment,” the IRS regulation that bars tax-exempt churches from endorsing political candidates. That law remains on the books, but is rarely enforced. However, Trump often claims that he has gotten rid of it, which he has not.

At one point White portrayed Trump as a philanthropist: “You organized and gave $7 million to Samaritan’s Purse for disaster relief in North Carolina,” she said.

American news and world report says the Trump campaign has organized two crowdfunded events to help aid Helene.

“We have to save religion in this country.”

Trump, who did not say whether he donated himself, responded with an anecdote about Franklin Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the aid group Samaritan’s Purse. Graham recently spoke at a Trump rally in North Carolina, where he prayed for Trump’s re-election.

“You can’t give it to a better person,” Trump said of Graham.

This follows in the footsteps of Trump and his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance, who falsely claims the federal government has not shown up to help hurricane victims. Although this claim has been repeatedly debunked, Republican candidates continue to spread this lie.

The Trump session concluded with an on-stage prayer saying Trump was “God’s vessel,” followed by the PA system blasting the Village People’s disco classic “YMCA.” Last year, Village People’s manager sent the Trump campaign a defamation letter alleging unauthorized use of this and other Village People songs.

The full complement of “faith leaders” stood next to Donald Trump at Paula White’s rally. (Screen cover)

Besides Jack Graham, Christian leaders scheduled to participate in the event included:

Evangelist Greg Laurie, who spoke at Trump’s recent rally in Coachella, California, saying Trump was “a true friend of the Christian community” during his first term
Eric Metaxas, who has written children’s books about Trump and is facing a defamation lawsuit for his role in spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election
Tim Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and executive director of the James Dobson Family Institute
Ralph Reed, the political consultant who has promoted GOP candidates as evangelicals since 1992 and now heads the Coalition for Faith and Freedom

Others included Donnie Swaggart, son of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart; former presidential candidate Gary Bauer; Kelly Shackleford of the conservative Christian legal group First Liberty; Jentezen Franklin; Kenneth Copeland; and Christian singer Danny Gokey.

The event was broadcast live by Broadcast network on the right which briefly lost its live feed, and was hosted by Worship with miracle churchan 18-year-old church purchasing a 30-acre campus. One of the nearly 30,000 online viewers wrote: “President Trump will return GOD to the people.”

The event followed a raucous rally Sunday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where a comedian disparaged Puerto Ricans, Latinos, blacks and Jews and another speaker called Democratic candidate Kamala Harris “the antichrist.” Trump also complained about stolen elections in 2020 and 2024, saying he and House Speaker Mike Johnson have planned “a secret” that will help with the election results.

In his comments Sunday evening, he said Trump claimed he could win in deep blue California ‘if Jesus Christ came down and was the vote counter’ Washingtonpost reported.

Trump claimed he could win in deep blue California “if Jesus Christ would come down and be the vote counter.”

Publicity for White’s event in Atlanta with Trump quoted German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (“Silence in the face of evil is in itself bad: God will not keep us innocent. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”).

But direct descendants of Bonhoeffer’s seven brothers and sisters have denounced this exploitation of his name in a recent publication statement: “We are shocked to see how Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s legacy is increasingly being distorted and abused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes and religious agitators.”

White’s National Faith Advisory Council promotes four “pillars”:

Protect religious freedom
Promote a strong America
Defend life in all phases
Honor family values

Hundreds of people who served in the Trump administration have declared him unfit for office, including his former chief of staff, John Kelly, who warned that Trump meets the definition of an fascist.

But White’s National Faith Advisory Board is working with Trump administration alumni, including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, Ben Carson and David Friedman. White’s group is also working with Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Marsha Blackburn, Cindy Hyde-Smith and James Lankford.

White is the founder of Paula White Ministriesserves as teaching pastor at StoryLife Church near Orlando, Florida, and hosts the TV show Paula Today, “Reaching 195 countries with a potential audience of more than 6 billion people.”

The National Faith Advisory Board has a minimal social media profile, with fewer than a thousand followers Facebookand less than 700 on X.

Anyone can join the National Faith Advisory Board’s “Inner Circle of Pastors Fighting for our Freedom” with a paymentof $120, $1,200 or $12,000 per year. “This unique opportunity allows you to participate, collaborate and network with a select group of leaders operating at the highest levels of influence and impact,” the promo says.

Trump is also praised as a “man of faith” in a new limited release pro-Trump film, The man you don’t knowwhich, according to the makers, “provides a balanced, deeper portrayal of Trump as a scholar, successful entrepreneur, man of faith and devoted family man.”

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