5 interesting things said during Trump’s ‘rebuilding’ roundtable at megachurch
Pastor Robert Morris hosted on Thursday President Donald Trump and black leaders who addressed longstanding problems of race relations in America and steps to reform and rebuild the nation.
The discussion, called “Restoring, Rebuilding and Renewing," took place at Gateway Church in Dallas, where Trump reiterated his desire for “law and order” amid ongoing riots in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Those who participated in the roundtable included Attorney General William Barr, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, former NFL player Jack Brewer, Chief Vernell Dooley and Bishop Harry Jackson, among others.
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Here are five interesting things that were said during the nearly 90-minute discussion.
1. Bishop Jackson: Church needs to come together
Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church and an evangelical adviser to Trump, said people shouldn’t expect the Trump administration to fix all the problems they’re seeing today, noting that it’s never worked that way.
“I’m tired of people blaming the current administration and others in our generation,” Jackson said. “These problems began many years ago.”
He outlined that throughout history, the Church came together to bring solutions.
“It was the Church that began the abolitionist movement. It was the Church and whites and blacks working together that started the NAACP … It was the Church that led through in the civil rights movement. So I want to offer you my support in these listening sessions, in that the Church needs to come together. I believe we can unify better than any group.
“I challenge you Christians — black, white, Asian: Let’s come together, and let’s provide a safety net, and then we’ll work with business, and then we’ll work along with the administration.”
2. Brewer: We need God
Brewer, a former NFL player, said right now, “we need God.”
“I want our nation to hear me: We need the fear of God,” he said.
He said Trump is the “only Republican I’ve ever voted for” because he “stood up for the Word of God.”
“We are in a spiritual warfare,” Brewer continued. “We cannot fight this battle with flesh and blood. We cannot fight this battle with politics. You cannot politicize oppression.”
He also argued that the root problem in America is “fatherlessness,” noting that 71% of students who drop out of high school don’t have a father in the house and that someone is “five times more likely to go to prison or have a run-in with the police department if they don’t have a father in the house.”
Those without a father in their house are also more likely to live in poverty.
“We don’t have to keep looking for the problem when we see it.”
He called on Americans to get out of their bubbles and go to the underserved communities and “do what Jesus told us to do.”
