In an interview with Fox News, the former president refused to back down from his words, insisting that if he is elected, “the country will be fixed” and their votes will be unnecessary.
In an interview televised Monday night, former President Donald J. Trump reaffirmed his previous claim that if Christians vote for him in November, they will never have to vote again, ignoring countless demands to retract or clarify the comment.
Last Friday, Mr. Trump told a group of Christian conservatives, “I love you.” You need to get out and vote. You will not have to vote again in four years. We’ll have things fixed so well that you won’t need to vote.”
On Monday, his interviewer, Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, pointed out that Democrats have used that comment as evidence that Mr. Trump would end elections, and she asked Mr Trump to respond to what she called a “ridiculous” argument.
However, Mr. Trump declined, repeating a pattern he frequently adopts in which he delivers a provocative statement that might be taken in a variety of ways while not attempting to calm the outcry. This comment was especially stunning given his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and his defiance of other Democratic traditions.
Ms. Ingraham began the argument by telling the former president: “They’re saying that you said to a crowd of Christians that they won’t have to vote in the future.”
Mr. Trump began his statement, by saying, “Let me explain what I mean by that. I had a fantastic audience, speaking to Christians in general — I mean, this was a throng that liked me.”
He continued that Catholics are “treated very badly by this administration” and that “they’re like persecuted,” then digressed, stating that Jewish people who voted for Democrats “should have your head examined,” a sentiment he has stated many times previously, eliciting antisemitic outrage. He then restated his previous statement on Friday.
“I said vote for me, and you’ll never have to do it again. It’s true,” he stated. “Because we need to get the votes out. Christians are not known to vote in large numbers. They do not vote. And I’m conveying this to them. You never vote. This time, vote. I’ll straighten out the country; you won’t have to vote anymore. “I will not need your vote.”
Ms. Ingraham offered him an off-ramp: “You mean you don’t have to vote for you, because you’ll have four years in office.”
He then repeated his statement from Friday once more, saying his message had been: “Don’t worry about the future. You have to vote on Nov. 5. After that, you don’t have to worry about voting anymore. I don’t care, because we’re going to fix it. The country will be fixed and we won’t even need your vote anymore, because frankly we will have such love, if you don’t want to vote anymore, that’s OK.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/us/politics/trump-christians-vote-ingraham.html