Trump calls Democrats “godless” in fiery speech to evangelicals

U.S. President Donald Trump denounced the Democratic Party as “hardcore, godless communists” during a divisive speech to evangelicals at a right‑wing Christian conference on Friday.

Speaking in Washington after three progressive candidates won New York’s Democratic primary this week, Trump described left‑wing ideology as an “uncontrollable form of cancer” that would bring America “down.”

“These are not social democrats. These are hardcore, godless communists,” Trump said. “This is the most serious threat to our country since its existence.”

At his 10th appearance at Road to Majority, an annual gathering of about 3,000 evangelicals from the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington, Trump attacked the “evil” and “incompetent” administration of former President Joe Biden.

He claimed, without evidence, that Biden—a devout, church‑going Catholic—had jailed Christians for praying, and he repeated his unfounded assertion that his 2020 defeat was the result of a “rigged” election.

Despite a career marked by legal and ethical controversies—including alleged affairs, felony business fraud convictions, and accusations of abusing his office to influence the 2020 election—Trump remains popular with the evangelical right.

For many conservative Christians, the 80‑year‑old Republican is seen more as a vehicle for political power than a model of private virtue.

Trump boasted that he had made it “official policy” that there are only two genders, highlighted the creation of a White House faith office, and claimed to have “saved Christians throughout the world” through military action in Nigeria and elsewhere.

He repeated a familiar false claim from his rallies that U.S. elections are plagued by fraud, pushed for a bill that would impose new voting restrictions, and condemned Republicans who opposed the measure, naming Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Trump accused the mainstream Democratic Party of becoming communist, claiming he “would be the greatest communist in history,” and warned that such a shift would lead Americans to live in squalor, while accusing leftists of “hating” America.

The grassroots Faith and Freedom Coalition has long treated Trump as a superstar—even after his conviction for paying hush money to a porn star who alleged he had slept with her shortly after his wife Melania gave birth.

The conference was held during the week of the four‑year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ending the nationwide right to abortion, a topic on which Trump was conspicuously silent.

He has expressed concerns about some of the more restrictive abortion curbs being promoted in conservative states.

Trump also sparked anger among some Christian‑right leaders when he blamed strict abortion restrictions for Republican underperformance in the 2022 midterm election, and he declined to commit to a federal ban during the 2024 campaign.