Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump implored Christian conservatives gathered Friday night to vote in the November election, telling them that “in four years, you don’t have to vote anymore.”
Trump made the remark toward the end of his hourlong speech at The Believers Summit, a three-day event hosted by Turning Point USA in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was talking about “the most important election ever,” which he said Republicans “must win,” before calling on attendees to cast ballots.
“Christians, get out and vote, just this time,” Trump said. “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you. Get out — you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote anymore. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote”
The clip has gone viral and sparked controversy in the hours since his speech. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign released a statement Saturday condemning what it called a promise “to end American democracy.”
“When Vice President Harris says this election is about freedom she means it,” the statement reads. “Our democracy is under assault by criminal Donald Trump. After the last election Trump lost, he sent a mob to overturn the results. This campaign, he has promised violence if he loses, the end of our elections if he wins, and the termination of the Constitution to empower him to be a dictator to enact his dangerous Project 2025 agenda on America.”
Since she became the favorite for the Democratic nomination, Harris has continued President Joe Biden’s line of attacks on Trump, including his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, for which he has been indicted; his March comment that “it’s going to be a bloodbath for the country” if he does not get elected; and Project 2025, a blueprint for a conservative administration spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation.
Trump spent plenty of time in his Friday speech attacking his new likely opponent, too. The former president called Harris “a bum,” slamming her for her “border czar” role as vice president at a time when immigration has become a top concern for voters, according to a Statista poll published July 5.
Harris is poised to officially become the Democratic nominee at the Democratic National Convention, which is set to begin Aug. 19, about 2 1/2 months before the Nov. 5 general election. A Fox News poll released Friday shows the vice president and Trump within 1 percentage point of each other in the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, all of which have voted for the winner of the last four presidential elections.
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