Posted on 01/17/2016 12:20:45 PM PST by TBBT
Today on CNN's State of the Nation, Jake Tapper revisited an old question with Donald Trump. He asked him about his faith and specifically about if he had ever asked forgiveness. By my count this is the third time that Trump has been asked the question.
At he Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, back in June:
Trump, who told CNN earlier that he is both anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage, said people are surprised to learn about his Christian faith.
"People are so shocked when they find ... out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church," he said.
Moderator Frank Luntz asked Trump whether he has ever asked God for forgiveness for his actions.
"I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so," he said. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."
Trump said that while he hasn't asked God for forgiveness, he does participate in Holy Communion.
"When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed," he said. "I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.'"
As an aside, Trump has both supported partial birth abortion and just this weekend floated naming a pro-abort as his vice-presidential choice.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper in July:
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
-— . I’m leading a very good life. I try to lead a good life. And I have. And, frankly, the reason I’m doing so well in Iowa, and leading the polls, including the CNN poll where I’m 33 to 20 in Iowa.... -—
I’m good because I’m leading in the polls.
Just... Wow.
If we elect this guy we truly will deserve what we get.
-— God’s really lucky to have someone as fabulous as Trump around.-—
I don’t care who you are. That right there is FUNNY.
So by your logic, Hillary must be approaching sainthood, since her poll number are so much better than Trump's.
“Just a Redstate hit piece. The headline always overstates the text in the article.
I do not see a meglomaniac.
I do see a nasty person at Redstate and a willing cohort.”
That is what it looks like to me after reading it. GO TRUMP GO
The clinton donor playing to peoples fantasies
so far haven’t seen anything Christian about trump. He’s a liar owns casinos and is a serial divorcer...all fruits of sin
Only sinners can have poll numbers.
“not the words of a christian.”
What makes you think that you have the right to decide who is and is not a christian? That is between the individual and the creator.
Yes it is. Might be time for me to get back into genealogy or read my seed catalogs.
No kidding. If Trump said "I have the best children ever!" RedState would headline it "Trump says your children suck".
Scott brown DID prevent Dirty Harry from pushing obamacare thru regular passage after he lost his 60th vote. So Reid and the rats cheated and pushed thru the Bill via reconciliation.
You cannot fault Scott brown on obamacare.
I think it’s pretty apparent that Mr. Trump is a nominal Christian.
My question is, if Mr. Trump is determined to do whatever he can to bring America back, and he is a true patriot who is capable, because of his determination and wealth, is it necessary for him to be a born-again Christian?
Would everyone rather have Huckabee, Santorum, or any of the other Christian candidates as the nominee? Perhaps God is using Mr. Trump. Perhaps he’ll even use this whole chapter in Mr. Trump’s life to bring him to genuine faith.
Why are some Christian pastors on board with Mr. Trump?
The religious holier-than-thou bigots on Free Republic sicken me.
If only they could see how they hurt Jesus and God with their gleeful, condemning gossiping and false witnessing.
Christians ask for God’s Forgiveness...... its part of the Program
thats why he’s called SAVIOR
Trump doesn’t bring HIM into it thus he displays no concern with either his sin nor Gods Provisions for forging same
thats Not a Christian Attitude he’s displaying at all.
IN FACT I doubt that He’s ever made the CLAIM to BE Christian
he HAS said he’s a Protestant...he HAS said that he Attends Church he’s Said he’s a Presbyterian
he’s Not... to my knowledge ever Stated that he is a Christian
Thanks
"One, we have a law, right? You're supposed to come in legally. I would get people out and I would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country, so they can be legal. Let them be legal."
From link of transcript you provided.
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TRUMP: Excuse me. Otherwise, you don’t have a country. You don’t have a country. If people can just pour into the country illegally, you don’t have a country. But I would expedite the system.
BASH: When you say legal, do you mean legal status or can they be eligible for citizenship?
TRUMP: Legal status.
BASH: No citizenship?
TRUMP: No citizenship.
We will see. Later down the line, who knows what is going to happen, but legal status.
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Expedite the system ... not expedite illegals back in as legal immigrants!
No citizenship!!! BOOM!!!!
Trump has repeatedly said to back of line....what line? Line of those applying for work visas and taking the best ones as we need them but American jobs first, not as immigrants.
NO CITIZENSHIP !!!!
Thanks good source! :)
Excellent!
There are wonderful people in the world that will give their shirt for their neighbor, that are kind and gentle to every person they ever come in contact with, but if they have not personally asked Jesus into their life thanking Him for dying on the Cross for their Sins, they are unsaved and in great danger.
On the other hand for example there is me, someone not quite as nice as the kind person above, but I have personally thanked Jesus for dying on the Cross for my sins, I thank Him every single day.
Clearly the person above in worldly terms is better than I, yet I am saved and the other is not.
The Lord looks at me and he sees the blood of Christ and a person that has gladly accepted the free gift of Salvation
The kind lady above has rejected Christs sacrifice on the Cross, so The Lord only sees sin
Repentance is also necessary , the least we can do is vote for candidates and parties that dont support abortion,homosexuality and the removal of God/Christ from the classroom/public square.
Imagine saying...I love you Lord but I am voting to have you banned from the Classroom/Public Square? That is just like spitting in the Lords face
Or I am voting to give the right to others to kill your children in the womb
Or I am going to vote that your children are taught in schools that homosexuality is a option for them
Cruz supports everything that is Godly, he has never had to change on life and death Christian issues
Voting for Trump is to spit in Gods face
Yes we need to pray for him but he is bearing false witness on Ted Cruz who is right with God.
Ted Cruz is a Christian after Gods own heart, Donald Trump is not... at this point he rejects Christ sacrifice on the Cross
No nothing I said was judging, Donald Trump has told us he is NOT a Christian... not because he is a bad person but because he has not asked forgiveness of God.
Asking forgiveness of God as the question was put to him would not have been enough anyway... There is only one way to God and it`s through Christ, you have to ask Jesus into our lives thanking Him for Dying on The Cross for our sins, thanking Him for bleeding and dying on the cross.
Donald has not done this, and is NOT a Christian. God Bless Donald Trump may he ask Jesus into his life, please save Mr Trump, reveal Your Son Jesus to Him
Thats the lesson for today, same time tomorrow
Both Rubio and Cruz cannot be believed on their statements on illegal aliens, it is just politics to them, about getting votes. They have both revealed where they really stand on the issue just a few months ago.
No I want someone who is consistent and believable on this issue, it is too important, if we don't get it right this time forget everything else, our country will be overrun with illegals and the Dems will win every election till there is blood running in the streets over this. Trump is the only one who is consistent on this issue and the only one who can be believed on this issue. It is Trump's issue, it wouldn't even be a campaign issue if Trump had not forced the issue. They all were beating on Trump the first month that he was saying deport, build the wall!
As for some of these Cruz supporters of FR, it is doubtful they care about the illegal alien issue either when you consider the outright lies and purposeful twisting of Trump's and Cruz's statements. It is not hard to see Trump is serious about this issue while Cruz is politicking. And a lot of these Cruz supporters are also just politicking. I can believe them when they say they support Cruz because of his strong constitutional knowledge but not when they say Cruz is the guy who will deport illegals or deal seriously with Muslims coming into our country. My only conclusion is they will risk American's future regarding illegal aliens and Muslins entering the US to get their guy Cruz the nomination, they just don't care about these two issues.
Read Cruz's changing history on illegals and HB1 and immigrants below and ask yourself how he can be believed.
Ted Cruz's immigration reversal.
On the campaign trail, Ted Cruz says he's the "consistent conservative" -- the one candidate who always sticks to his principles. But on immigration, that's an open question. The Texas senator has long been a fierce proponent of expanding legal immigration and visas for high-skilled workers, so much so that he repeatedly broke with immigration hardliners like Sen. Jeff Sessions during Senate Judiciary Committee proceedings in 2013. Now, Cruz is advocating a tough approach that would impose a temporary halt on legal immigration -- a significant reversal for a senator who espoused more moderate positions on immigration in Congress than on the campaign trail.
While much of the recent scrutiny on Cruz's immigration record has been on whether he backs legalizing the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country, there is no doubt that Cruz was a staunch advocate of opening U.S. borders for those entering into the United States through the proper legal channels. He fought to allow more legal immigrants into the United States during the Senate's most consequential immigration debate since George W. Bush's presidency.
A deeper look at Cruz's record -- particularly during the divisive 2013 immigration debate -- showcases how the junior senator from Texas was seeking to promote a view of immigration that could appeal to constituents in a border state transformed by an influx of migrants. A review of nearly 1,000 pages of transcripts from the five days of committee votes shows how the Texas firebrand took a nuanced view -- repeatedly saying he wanted the bill to pass with several changes, especially expanded legal immigration.
"I don't want this bill to be voted down and I hope the stakeholders who want this bill to be passed will be interested in amendments to craft a bill that will pass," Cruz said. "And I look forward to working with the committee members in that process."
Cruz ultimately opposed the so-called Gang of Eight bill, which was co-authored by his chief presidential rival, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, and would have been the most expansive rewrite of immigration laws in nearly three decades. He now says he wouldn't give permanent legal status to any of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants and touts his role in leading the fight in the Senate Judiciary Committee to kill the bill.
But a CNN review of the committee transcripts shows that not once did he use the word "amnesty" in describing illegal immigration during the five days of lengthy deliberations, a common mantra for Cruz on the campaign trail today. And he sought to both double the cap of legal immigration from 675,000 to 1.3 million and pushed for a dramatic increase of 500% for high-skilled H-1B visas to 325,000.
When Sessions, the Alabama Republican, sought to issue stringent new caps on visas issued to foreigners from across the globe, Cruz pushed back.
"I intend to vote no on this amendment, and the reason is I think legal immigration is a fundamental pillar of our country," Cruz said at the committee debate. "And I think, as a nation, we need to remain a nation that doesn't just welcome, but that celebrates legal immigrants around this table."
Speaking to reporters here in Cedar Rapids Tuesday, Rubio seized on Cruz's past positions to paint him as a flip-flopper on an issue that riles up the conservative base.
"I understand now he has changed his position," Rubio said. "He has a right to change his position, it's a different position."
Rubio added: "He supported a massive expansion of temporary guest workers coming into the United States, he supported a massive doubling of the number of green cards -- so his position is different than what is now."
Catherine Frazier, a Cruz spokeswoman, strongly denied that Cruz is shifting his positions on the issue. She said that the Texas Republican sought to mold the immigration bill into a plan that conservatives could get behind by offering a variety of amendments. She also said that Cruz had sought to tie the growth of legal immigration to border security, saying that enforcement always came first in his mind.
"It's completely dishonest to suggest that Sen. Cruz is not a staunch proponent of securing the border," Frazier said. "And he believes that needs to be the first priority in fixing our immigration system."
In November, under pressure from conservative talk radio and Rubio, Cruz issued an immigration plan that went even further right than Sessions' 2013 amendment, which the Texas Republican opposed. The new plan would in part halt all legal immigration until the unemployment rate decreases. The new plan also would end birthright citizenship, suspend the H-1B visa program for 180 days to investigate alleged abuses and deny certain government aid to legal immigrants.
During the 2013 markup, however, Cruz had a different approach.
"I think we need to remain a nation that welcomes and embraces legal immigrants and in both regards my amendments go further to improving legal -- legal immigration than does the Gang of Eight," Cruz said.
Among the changes he sought at the time: Beefed up border security, limiting welfare benefits to undocumented immigrants, removing the path to citizenship for the undocumented and a dramatic expansion of legal immigration.
On Tuesday, Cruz's campaign unveiled an ad showcasing a tough approach on the issue.
"If I'm elected president, we will triple the border patrol. We will build a wall that works. Will secure the border," he said.
The ad comes after Cruz has been vaulting in the polls here in Iowa, where he has been endorsed by Rep. Steve King, a leading immigration hardliner. He told an Iowa voter this week that he would prevent deported immigrants from reentering the country, moving to the right of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on the issue.
Cruz's immigration record came under the spotlight in November after Rubio sought to muddy the waters by spotlighting the Texas Republican's position on legal immigration. Specifically, Rubio pointed to an amendment offered by Cruz in 2013 to eliminate the path to citizenship -- but still offer undocumented immigrants the opportunity to obtain a legalized status. Sessions backed the amendment, which ultimately failed.
"They would still be eligible for legal status," Cruz stressed in defending the amendment during the committee deliberations.
During CNN's Republican presidential debate in December, Cruz and Rubio traded fire over the issue.
"Ted, you support legalizing people who are in this country illegally," Rubio said.
Cruz's response: "I have never supported legalization, and I do not intend to support legalization."
Marco Rubio attacks Ted Cruz's voting record 02:38 When pressed on his amendments in recent weeks, Cruz has said it was part of a concerted strategy to tank the bill. Speaking to Laura Ingraham on her radio show before Thanksgiving, Cruz said he no longer backs expanding H-1B visas and he cited abuses of the program in recent years.
"I don't believe that's a good idea," Cruz told the radio host of a dramatic expansion of H-1B visas. "It's important to understand on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was leading the fight along with Jeff Sessions to defeat this bill, the Gang of Eight bill. As a result, I was introducing a whole series of amendments, in part, to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Democrats."
Cruz said it was part of a "concerted strategy" to defeat the Gang of Eight bill.
But that's hardly how he couched it in the 2013 deliberations. Cruz said that he was working in "good faith" to "improve" the bill so it could pass Congress and be signed into law. "We're actually trying to be helpful," he said during the committee markup.
On the campaign trail, his positioning has come under attack from Trump as well.
Speaking Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," Trump said the Texas Republican is "weak" on this issue, saying he was "copying" his plan, where the brash businessman proposed increasing the prevailing wage requirements for H-1B visa workers to discourage companies from hiring cheaper overseas workers.
"Ted Cruz is trying to step up his whole game on amnesty and illegal immigration, because it was actually quite weak," Trump said.
Shifting right As part of Cruz's new plan, the senator called for suspending the H-1B visa program for 180 days to investigate abuses of the program and halt any increases in legal immigration so long "as American unemployment remains unacceptably high." He consulted with Sessions in calibrating his new immigration plan.
But during the 2013 committee proceedings, Cruz offered an amendment that would have increased H-1B visas from 65,000 to 325,000 -- regardless of unemployment rates or conditions in the market place.
"I think the number that Senator Cruz has raised is a bit high," Sessions said with some alarm at the time.
Cruz strongly defended his idea.
"High- skilled immigrants whether temporary or permanent are, I believe, the data demonstrates pro-growth," Cruz said. "They generate jobs. They generate economic productivity." Cruz supported an amendment offered by Chuck Schumer that would have, in part, provided additional up-front funding for implementing the bill -- something that conservatives like Sessions and Utah Sen. Mike Lee opposed.
He backed an amendment by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that would, in part, clear the way for spouses of H-1B visa holders to work. He opposed repeated efforts by Grassley to clamp down on H-1B visas, including an amendment to audit annually one percent of companies that sponsor high-skilled visas.
In one plan, Cruz sought to eliminate what he considered "arbitrary" caps for four countries -- China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. "I don't think we should be discriminating against those nations." The plan sought to consolidate various different high-skilled employment visas into a single visa, while increasing the number of family-based green cards.
Fighting back charges from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, that Cruz was being too hard on undocumented workers, Cruz was indignant, saying he was hoping a consensus could be reached.
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