WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump urged evangelical leaders this week to get out the vote ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and warned of 鈥渧iolence鈥� by opponents if they fail.
Trump made the dire warning at a White House dinner Monday evening attended by dozens of conservative Christian pastors, ministers and supporters of his administration.
Trump was stressing the stakes in November when he warned that, if Democrats win, they 鈥渨ill overturn everything that we鈥檝e done and they鈥檒l do it quickly and violently,鈥� according to attendees and audio of his closed-door remarks obtained by media outlets, including The New York Times. He specifically mentioned self-described antifa, or anti-fascist groups, describing them as 鈥渧iolent people.鈥�
Asked Wednesday what he meant, Trump told reporters, 鈥淚 just hope there won鈥檛 be violence.鈥�
鈥淚f you look at what happens ... there鈥檚 a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country. And I don鈥檛 want to see it,鈥� Trump said.
At the dinner, Trump talked up his administration鈥檚 efforts to bolster conservative Christian causes and urged those gathered to get their 鈥減eople鈥� to vote, warning the efforts could quickly be undone.
鈥淚 just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote,鈥� Trump said, according to the Times. 鈥淏ecause if they don鈥檛 鈥� it鈥檚 Nov. 6 鈥� if they don鈥檛 vote we鈥檙e going to have a miserable two years and we鈥檙e going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election 鈥� you鈥檙e one election away from losing everything you鈥檝e got.鈥�
Ohio Pastor Darrell Scott, an early Trump supporter who attended the dinner, said he interpreted the comments differently than the media has portrayed them.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 any kind of dire warning,鈥� Scott said, .鈥�.. except the things that we鈥檝e been working on as a body of voters will be reversed and overturned.鈥�
鈥淲hat he was saying,鈥� Scott continued, is that 鈥渢here are some violent people ... but it wasn鈥檛 that we鈥檝e got to worry about murder on the streets and chaos and anarchy ... just that the things we鈥檝e worked for will be overturned.鈥�
Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council and another attendee, said he, too, interpreted Trump鈥檚 message as a warning not to be complacent.
While Trump did make a reference to antifa, Perkins told CNN, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody in the room suggested that there was going to be violence across the nation.鈥�
鈥淚 did not interpret him to say that the outcome of the election is going to lead (to) violence in the streets, and violence in the churches,鈥� he told CNN.