Chris King, pastors slam Donald Trump ahead of Miami evangelical rally

With President Donald Trump slated to rally at a South Florida megachurch, a former statewide Democratic candidate and allied pastors sent a counter-message Friday.

The press call continued the messaging from Thursday when various high-profile Democrats prebutted the President’s event.

The messaging rolled out when the call was announced addressed Trump’s “broken promises,” “from his mission to undermine the Affordable Care Act to his cruel immigration agenda.”

Former Lt. Gov. candidate Chris King said Trump and allies were “guilty of co-opting faith communities for political advantage.”

The Miami event was announced just days after Christianity Today, a magazine founded by the late Rev. Billy Graham, called for the President’s removal from office.

King said the article spotlighted a “big decision” for “faith-based voters,” noting that for decades, evangelical leaders on the right have been “blinded by might.”

The former candidate said that Trump showed “disdain” for Christians, failing to “authentically live out the values of the gospel,” with “cruel” policies that are “probably not going to be talked about today in the church.”

“People of faith have to speak out in this election,” King said.

Minister Kevin Chambliss, a youth minister at Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, also weighed in, saying that voters must “hold Trump accountable.”

Doug Pagitt, a pastor and Executive Director of Vote Common Good, added that Trump’s rally was a “desperate” attempt to keep “faith voters” in line and “give cover for his broken promises and immoral policies.”

President Trump has made aggressive plays to the evangelical movement since launching his 2016 campaign.

However, Florida Democrats hope that religious people on the left can be mobilized to stop Trump on faith-based grounds.

Meanwhile, just hours before the call Friday morning, the U.S. assassinated Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, setting off what many expect to be a more intense phase of conflict with Iran and its allies.

King addressed that also, skeptical about the President’s motives.

“What concerns me is Donald Trump in his bellicose way has almost created a tinder atmosphere around the world,” King said, adding that we are “one situation away from a major conflagration.”

“Time will tell,” King said, regarding how much of the motivation was the 2020 election. But King suggested that the strike on Soleimani fit a Trump “pattern of behavior,” where his “first go-to move is how will this benefit me.”