Politics - News Analysis

Trump Humiliated After Major Evangelical Group Refuses to Invite Him to Conference — But Invites Other Major GOP Candidates

I love it when Donald Trump gets some comeuppance…the man deserves it. And this snub has got to hurt. And be embarrassing as all get-out. Trump was not invited to a majorgathering of evangelical and Jewish leaders, Christians United for Israel, scheduled for this weekend.

“While he has been invited in the past, former President Donald Trump was not invited to this year’s summit,” a senior adviser to CUFI told The Messenger on Friday. CUFI is a group of Christian Right activists and Jewish leaders, which is hosting a number of GOP 2024 hopefuls.

Trump’s GOP competitors Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley will be in attendance, the outlet reported.

The news comes the one-term, twice-impeached, twice-indicted former president drew ire from Jewish leaders after inviting Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), who lost major partnerships after making antisemitic remarks, Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust-denying white supremacist, to Mar-a-Lago.

Evangelicals were seen as a crucial voting bloc in Trump’s unexpected 2016 victory, and he isn’t thrilling them this time around.

This marks at least the third event for 2024 candidates that Trump has not attended in recent months. Trump is skipping the Family Leader’s conference in Iowa on Friday, and he didn’t attend Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s annual “Roast and Ride” fundraiser last month.

Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, said it was a “mistake” for Trump to skip the event, “because this is a very vital base.” Trump will, however, attend Charlie Kirk’s student group, Turning Point Action, at their conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend. But DeSantis won’t be at the Turning Point Action conference, even though he is the governor of the Sunshine State where the event is being held.

The CUFI was founded by Pastor John Hagee and remains the largest pro-Israel group in the nation. Its members are a key group that any 2024 Republican candidate will need to court in order to secure the presidential nomination. And Trump loves to say he’s the most pro-Israel candidate/president in the history of the world, so this is a major snub.

Comments

Comments are currently closed.