First, there was MAGA. Then, MAHA.
Now, President Donald Trump is pitching MARA — Make America Religious Again.
During speeches at two prayer breakfasts Thursday morning, Trump spoke about the importance of religion in American life and promised to protect Christians from government interference.
“We have to bring religion back. We have to bring it back much stronger,” Trump said to an audience of lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol, per NBC News. “It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time. We have to bring it back.”
The president went on to say that part of promoting religion will be reducing interference from the Democratic Party.
“I can tell you the opposite side, the opposing side. They oppose religion. They oppose God,” he said, according to The Washington Post. “They’ve lost their confidence. They’ve lost their confidence — it’s a different group of people than I remember."
Trump said he will support religious Americans — and Christians, in particular — by creating a freedom of religion commission and task force on anti-Christian bias.
“I will be creating a brand new presidential commission on religious liberty. It’s going to be a very big deal, which will work tirelessly to uphold this most fundamental right. Unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve seen this sacred liberty threatened like never before in American history,” Trump said, during the second of the two prayer breakfasts on Thursday, a private event at the Washington Hilton hotel.
The task force will be asked to combat both public and private forms of anti-Christian discrimination, he added.
“The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies,” he said, per NBC News. “In addition, the task force will work to fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.”
Trump also spoke about his own faith Thursday morning, describing how an assassination attempt in July affected his relationship with God.
“Honestly, it changed — it changed something in me, I feel,” he said at the Capitol. “I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened.”
He then reflected on several current events, including his executive order on transgender athletes, which was released Wednesday, and the recent collision between an Army helicopter and a plane at an airport near Washington.
Trump promised future action to improve air traffic control, according to The Washington Post.
“I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great, computerized system for our control towers, brand new,” he said.