President Donald Trump was the keynote speaker Saturday at the first-ever Celebrate Freedom Rally hosted by First Baptist Dallas pastor Rev. Robert Jeffress in Washington, D.C.
The event celebrated not only the nation’s independence, but the hard-fought religious liberty victories that have piled up under the new president. The president acknowledged the role evangelical Christians played in his electoral victory and reiterated his promise to stand up for their religious liberty.
“We don’t want to see God forced out of the public square, driven out of our schools or pushed out of our civic life,” he said. “We want to see prayers before football games, if they want to give prayers. We want all children to have the opportunity to know the blessings of God.
“We will not allow the government to censor sermons, to restrict the free speech of our pastors and our preachers and the people that we most respect. Like Robert. That is why, just as I promised Pastor Jeffress and other faith leaders, I signed an executive order following—and this is something that makes me very happy and very proud—following through on my campaign pledge to stop the Johnson Amendment from interfering with your First Amendment rights.
“As long as I am president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart. We want to hear him.”
The White House released video of the president’s speech Sunday, which you can see in the clip above. {eoa}
