There was an extraordinary moment in Donald Trump’s speech [Thursday] in Charlotte, North Carolina. He said the following:

“As you know, I am not a politician. I have worked in business, creating jobs and rebuilding neighborhoods my entire adult life. I’ve never wanted to learn the language of the insiders, and I’ve never been politically correct…

Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain… But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth.”

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

For those of us who believe it is absolutely essential that Donald Trump win the presidency, that statement was extremely important and significant.

Of course, big media and the Clinton campaign immediately asserted that those words were forced on Trump by Kellyanne Conway, his new campaign manager, and thus mean nothing. Yes, you read that right — Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of lying. Liars gonna lie.

As some of you know, I have been friends with Kellyanne Conway for several decades. She is a woman of tremendous character. [Friday] on “Good Morning America,” Conway adamantly asserted that those words were Donald Trump’s own. He heavily edited drafts of the speech and said exactly what he wanted to say.

By the way, the Donald Trump who expressed his regrets [Thursday] night is the man I know from repeated meetings and exchanges. He has always been kind, thoughtful and decent to me and everyone else in every interaction I have witnessed.

How Should Christians Respond

I confess that as a Christian, unlike others, I have not been conflicted about how I should vote this November. After the primary, it was not a difficult decision for me to support Trump. Let me just remind you of a few reasons:

• Supreme Court appointments
• Thousands of other judicial and government appointments
• The future of religious liberty
• The chance to end abortion-on-demand
• Defeating radical Islam
• Stopping Christian genocide.

I could go on and on.

But I certainly know and respect many Christian friends who have been put off by Trump’s admittedly tough rhetoric, particularly against some of his competitors in the Republican primaries. [Thursday] night he expressed regrets about that rhetoric, especially if it personally wounded someone.

With so much at stake for the country, I hope that the reaction among fellow believers will be one of grace, and a redoubling of the requirement that we pray for all those who seek and hold higher office, as well as our commitment to act responsibly as good citizens when it comes time to vote.

Another Home Run

While Trump’s remarks about his regrets are getting most of the attention, the rest of his speech was also remarkable. Trump continued reaching out to minority voters in ways that McCain and Romney did not, and he is using rhetoric that, quite frankly, is Reaganesque. Consider these few excerpts:

“To be one united nation, we must protect all of our people. But we must also provide opportunities for all of our people. We cannot make America Great Again if we leave any community behind. Nearly four in ten African-American children are living in poverty. I will not rest until children of every color in this country are fully included in the American Dream…

"This is what I promise to African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and all Americans… I refuse to let another generation of American children be excluded from the American Dream. Our whole country loses when young people of limitless potential are denied the opportunity to contribute their talents because we failed to provide them the opportunities they deserved. Let our children be dreamers too…



"Finally, we are going to bring this country together. We are going to do it by emphasizing what we all have in common as Americans. We are going to reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, which sees communities of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future.



"If African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote, the result for them will be amazing. Look at how badly things are going under decades of Democratic leadership — look at the schools, look at the 58% of young African-Americans not working. It is time for change.

"What do you have to lose by trying something new? …This means so much to me, and I will work as hard as I can to bring new opportunity to places in our country which have not known opportunity in a very long time…”

Now, don’t expect Trump to take the edge off his attacks on Hillary Clinton and what the left is doing to America. You may not always be comfortable with the language. But in the politics of personal destruction practiced by the left, candidates who try to be “Mr. Nice Guy,” i.e. John McCain and Mitt Romney, end up going down to defeat, while the left’s agenda continues destroying our country.

Bill and Hillary Clinton are the most corrupt politicians seeking office at a time when corruption is rampant throughout our society and in Washington, D.C. It would be political malfeasance for Donald Trump to not say that every day to every audience he can.

By the way, the Trump campaign is launching a major ad buy in key battleground states today. His ad targets Hillary Clinton’s left-wing policies on illegal immigration and how they undermine our homeland security. You can watch it here.

Other News

• The Trump-Pence team visited flood-ravaged areas of Louisiana [Friday]. Barack Obama is still on vacation.

• Paul Manafort resigned his position as campaign chairman [Friday]. The media highlighted his departure as yet ANOTHER shake up. No it isn’t. This is part of the same reorganization that occurred earlier this week. Manafort’s departure was expected. He is leaving on good terms and will remain “an outside confidant of the campaign.”

• Last week, Hillary Clinton enjoyed wide, sometimes double-digit leads in the polls. But now they appear to be shifting in Trump’s favor.



A new poll by the Pew Research Center finds Clinton leading by just four points — 41% to 37%. The Los Angeles Times daily tracking poll has Clinton leading Trump by just two points — 45% to 43%. And the latest Rasmussen poll also finds a two point race — 41% to 39%.