It’s been called a “reckoning,” an “inquisition,” even a “quiz,” but [Tuesday’s] meeting between Donald Trump and hundreds of Christian leaders was a conversation — an important one about America’s future. The closed-door gathering with the GOP’s presumptive nominee had been the talk of the media for over a month and [Tuesday], after weeks of planning, perhaps the largest assembly of social conservative leaders in a generation convened — hoping, after eight years of extremely hostile policies, to build a bridge between them and the man who could be the nation’s next commander-in-chief. [Tuesday] night on Fox News, Megyn Kelly asked me why it was necessary for Christian leaders to start a dialogue with Donald Trump. I’ll tell you what I told her: I believe we have to be both an influence in this process and a witness to a standard of truth that is revealed in Scripture that we adhere to. When we have a candidate whose positions in the past were inconsistent with that standard, we have to have a conversation.

When we first discussed the idea, we thought 400 leaders might attend given such short notice. However, the response was overwhelming — and by [Tuesday], 1,000 people in positions of influence from across the country gathered in New York City. The strong interest in the event only underscores the depth of concern that evangelicals have over the state of our nation. As I said [Tuesday] on Fox Business, MSNBC, and later on the “The Kelly File,” I think many social conservative voters want to support Donald Trump. They clearly know that the alternative is four more long years of policies hostile to religious liberty and moral values. But they aren’t there yet; greater reassurance is needed.

For many of the leaders I spoke with, the comfort level with Trump did increase as he responded empathetically to repeated questions about religious freedom. In fact, the only area that he offered specific policy prescriptions was on religious liberty and defending pastors’ rights to speak freely from the pulpit. In particular, Trump brought up the 1954 Johnson Amendment to the tax code. Right now, under the Johnson Amendment, church leaders are too concerned about losing their tax-exempt status to preach on the moral and political issues of the day. “We’re going to get rid of that [amendment],” Trump promised. He paid special attention to the Left’s “war on Christmas” and even touched on Coach Joe Kennedy’s inability to pray after football games. From the Second Amendment to the horrible Iran nuclear agreement, the audience largely found themselves in agreement with Trump’s message.

There was some concern that Trump didn’t completely address a question on whether or not he would reverse the Obama administration’s social engineering in the military. Overall, there seemed to be a general consensus that he “gets” the crisis facing Americans’ First Freedom. Whether he understands evangelicals and social conservatives is another matter. But one thing Trump and social conservatives do have in common is the shared experience of being the target of vicious and often vile attacks from the Left for refusing to surrender to the terms of political correctness.

It was Trump who said, “The most important thing I can do is talk to you.” Those of us across the conservative movement appreciate that he took the time to do so — and hope the ongoing conversation results in a concrete plan to protect the values we hold dear.

For more reaction from [Tuesday’s] conversation with Donald Trump, watch my appearance on “The Kelly File” [Tuesday] night.

Originally published here.

The Left’s Censorship: As Easy as ABC?

The far-Left must be desperate for moral victories, because now they’re making them up! This past weekend, a liberal group launched a petition to ABC News encouraging them to cancel my appearance. Of course, this is nothing new for me or FRC. Among the many things I’ve observed firsthand about the intolerant Left is: if they can’t shout you down, they’ll try to shut you down by silencing you. The reason is quite obvious. The facts, truth, reason, and common sense are against them so they don’t want a reasonable conversation, they don’t even want a debate! So, in typical George Soros fashion, they tried – unsuccessfully — to pressure ABC News to cancel my appearance, and then claimed victory when ABC did so for completely unrelated reasons.

After leading FRC for a decade and a half (as well as working on the other side of the interview desk, which I’ve done as a reporter and now as a daily radio show host), one thing is certain when it comes to the press: schedules change all the time. The media has to adapt to breaking stories of the day and different guests’ availability. When ABC canceled my appearance Monday, it had nothing to do with this petition that an insignificant number signed. If that were the case, we could overwhelm their petition with one of our own. This liberal group previously claimed they banned me from another TV network. But that was false because I’ve continued to make appearances on the network. Just since Sunday, I’ve appeared on Fox News Business, twice on MSNBC, and twice on Fox News.

Over the last few days, ABC News has heard from those who want to censor Christian viewpoints. Now it’s time for ABC News to hear from you and viewers across the political spectrum who value a civil discussion. Please contact ABC News by sending them an email and let them know where you stand.

Originally published here.