- Trump calls on Christians to get out and vote in November elections.
- He says, “we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote”.
- Campaign spox says ex-president was talking about uniting country.
WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump has said that if Christians vote for him, they will not need to cast their ballots after this year’s presidential polls set to be held in November.
“I love you Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote”, Trump said while speaking at an event organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action in West Palm Beach, Florida on Friday.
It is unclear what the former president meant by his remarks, in an election campaign where his Democratic opponents accused him of being a threat to democracy, and after his attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden, an effort that led to the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung did not directly address Trump’s remarks when asked to clarify them.
Cheung said the former president “was talking about uniting this country,” and blamed “the divisive political environment” on the attempted assassination of Trump two weeks ago.
Investigators have yet to give a motive for why the 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump.
In an interview with Fox News in December, Trump said that if he won the November 5 election he would be a dictator, but only on “day one”, to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.
Democrats have seized on that comment. Trump has since said the remarks were a joke.
If Trump wins a second term in the White House, he can serve only four more years as president. It is to be noted that US presidents are limited to two terms, consecutive or not, under the US Constitution.
In May, speaking at a National Rifle Association gathering, Trump quipped about serving more than two terms as president.
He referred to the presidency of Franklin D Roosevelt, a Democrat, the only president to serve more than two terms. The two-term limit was added after Roosevelt’s presidency.
“You know, FDR, 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?” Trump asked the NRA crowd.
Trump’s remarks on Friday pointed to the need for both parties to energize their base voters ahead of what will likely be a closely fought election. He has enjoyed loyal support from evangelicals in the past two elections.
The race has abruptly tightened after the decision by Biden to end his reelection bid and with his vice president, Kamala Harris, becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Recent opinion polls show Trump’s significant lead over Biden has been largely erased since the torch was passed to Harris.
Jason Singer, a Harris campaign spokesperson, in a statement, did not directly address Trump’s remarks about Christians not having to vote again.
Singer described Trump’s overall speech as “bizarre” and “backwards looking”.
