Former President Trump will deliver the keynote address at a major Christian conference Saturday as he courts social conservatives before formally accepting the Republican presidential nomination in July.
About an hour before speaking, Trump released a video from his private plane, “Trump Force One,” announcing that he was headed “at fairly rapid speed” to the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., where the Faith and Freedom Coalition (F&F) is hosting its Road to Majority Conference.
“It’s a great group, it’s going to be a big crowd and you’ll be watching it very shortly,” Trump said.
After his remarks, which are expected to last about an hour and 15 minutes, the president will travel to Philadelphia for a rally this evening.
Pro-Trump souvenir glasses are for sale at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The Road to Majority Conference is hosted annually by F&F, a major Christian grassroots organization with more than 3 million members across the U.S. The conference is known as the largest public policy gathering of conservative Christian activists in the U.S., and will focus on policy issues that matter most to voters of faith ahead of the 2024 election.
Ralph Reed, the founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, told the Associated Press that social conservatives would like to see a federal ban on abortion and want Republican elected officials to be “profiles in courage” who are “articulating their strongly held pro-life views.”
“Make America Great Again” hats and other pro-Trump merchandise are for sale at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Trump has previously said he does not support a federal abortion ban and that individual state governments should be permitted to regulate abortion. While his view is at odds with many evangelical Christian voters in the pro-life movement, he is still viewed favorably on the right for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion.
Reed told the AP that Trump’s position does not put him at risk of losing any support from evangelical voters, who give him “more slack in the rope than they would likely give another politician.”
“I don’t think it’s going to hurt him at all because he’s got enormous credibility on this issue,” Reed said. “He did more for the pro-life and pro-family cause than any president we’ve ever had in the history of the movement.”
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Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, addresses the 2024 Road to Majority Conference in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2024. (Chris KLEPONIS/AFP)
Other prominent speakers at the conference were Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty.
Youngkin, Noem, Carson and Gabbard have all been mentioned as potential running mates for Trump. The event marks the latest instance where a number of those reportedly in the running for the role could be competing on stage for Trump’s approval ahead of the Republican National Convention this summer.
Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and the Associated Press contributed to this report.