President Donald Trump on Saturday morning looked to appeal to evangelical Christians, suburban mothers and Midwest voters, as he falsely claimed Democrats are attacking their values — even going so far as to remove “God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Trump broadened the debunked claim Saturday that Democratic National Convention organizers removed the word “God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Although the line was omitted from some small DNC meetings, the words “under God” were included in several of the convention’s prime-time TV recitations of the pledge — including one version said by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s grandchildren. The omission of “under God” was not included in any official DNC guidelines.
But Trump, in an appeal to evangelical voters, tweeted Saturday that the omission from individual caucus meetings is a sign of what’s to come for Americans.
“The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn’t. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it’s done. Vote Nov 3!” the president wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.
The words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 under President Dwight Eisenhower in response to secular Communist beliefs at the time, according to the nonprofit Independence Hall Association’s USHistory.org. In June 1954, “under God” was officially incorporated into the Pledge by a Joint Resolution of Congress which amended the Flag Code of 1942.
On the first night of the DNC, as was widely reported by conservative media outlets, participants sang The Star Spangled Banner instead of reciting the Pledge. But on the second, third and fourth nights, “under God” was said by the DNC attendees.
The president, who holds the vast majority of support among white Christians, Catholics and evangelicals, has previously invoked the “under God” phrase in order to unite his supporters. “We are ONE movement, ONE people, ONE family, and ONE GLORIOUS NATION UNDER GOD!” he told his supporters in December 2019.
Trump received 75.6 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016. And recent polls show he holds a majority of support, 52 percent, among white Catholic voters.
In addition to his Christian base, Trump on Saturday also tweeted a direct appeal to suburban women — a demographic that many polls show has pulled back from him since the 2016 contest against Hillary Clinton. Earlier this month, Trump said “suburban housewives” strongly support him, but an NPR/PBS NewsHour poll showed two-thirds, 66 percent, of women in suburbs disapprove of the job he’s doing as president.
“Why would Suburban Women vote for Biden and the Democrats when Democrat run cities are now rampant with crime (and they aren’t asking the Federal Government for help) which could easily spread to the suburbs, and they will reconstitute, on steroids, their low income suburbs plan!” Trump tweeted.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign and the DNC for additional remarks Saturday morning.
