Donald Trump Ready to Ask God for Forgiveness, but 'Not Much' of It
Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a recent interview that he is ready to ask God for forgiveness in his life, but hopes that he won't have to do it often.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with political columnist Cal Thomas on Wednesday, where he followed up on past comments when he had said he's unsure if he's ever asked God for forgiveness.
"I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won't have to be asking for much forgiveness. As you know, I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I've had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers," Trump said.
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"We have tremendous support from the clergy. I think I will be doing very well during the election with evangelicals and with Christians."
Back in July 2015 the billionaire businessman had said that "I try not make mistakes where I have to ask forgiveness."
He later followed that up by stating: "I go to communion and that's asking forgiveness, you know, it's a form of asking forgiveness."
Trump is scheduled to meet with 500 of the top evangelical and social conservative leaders in America on June 21 in New York City.
Some of those conservatives, including Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, revealed that the purpose of the meeting is to ascertain what Trump has to offer the country.
"I want to be actively supportive of a candidate who can help turn this nation around. With Trump – I'm not there yet. I hope to be there – but I'm not there right now," Perkins said back in May.
The Republican candidate has butted heads with some notable Evangelicals, however, such as Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, who has been highly critical of his campaign.
Trump tweeted back in May: "@drmoore Russell Moore is truly a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all of the good they stand for. A nasty guy with no heart!" after Moore had warned that supporting Trump is an "embrace of the very kind of moral and cultural decadence that conservatives have been saying for a long time is the problem."
In his interview with Thomas, Trump was asked to explain who Jesus Christ is to him, to which he answered:
"Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence," Trump said.
He added: "Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind."
The GOP candidate criticized Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton on a number of topics, and suggested he would be better suited to address ongoing persecution of Christians around the world.
"I have a strong temperament, but our country needs a strong temperament. You have people chopping off heads of Christians and others," Trump pointed out.
"Not since medieval times has anyone seen anything like this. I couldn't have built the great companies I've built if I didn't have a strong temperament. And she's (Clinton) got a weak temperament. She's a weak person. I think she would make a horrible president."
