Speaking to a crowd of socially conservative Christians at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gathering in Washington, D.C., Trump doubled down on his refusal to call for federal abortion restrictions.

By Natalie Allison and Jared Mitovich

06/22/2024 06:00 PM EDT

An indelicate Donald Trump on Saturday made repeat attempts to relate to a crowd of socially conservative Christians at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gathering in Washington, D.C. — asking who had ever read the Ten Commandments, declaring that “our allegiance is to our Creator” and touting his relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during his tenure.

In between suggesting that there should be a separate UFC league just for migrants arriving in the U.S. and castigating the “stupid people” who have served on his staff, the historically undevout former president pontificated on the horrors of “religion becoming less and less of a factor” in society and pledged to defend religious liberty.

But he didn’t budge on his refusal to call for federal abortion restrictions — a top goal of some of the nation’s leading Christian conservative and anti-abortion groups. Trump and his top advisers have both publicly and privately acknowledged that embracing federal restrictions could alienate the moderate and swing voters they need to win the election this fall.

Still, evangelical voters continue to show deep loyalty to Trump.

“We have also achieved what the pro-life movement fought to get for 49 years, and we’ve gotten abortion out of the federal government and back to the states, the way everybody and all legal scholars always said it should be,” Trump told the crowd, referring to his appointment of Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.

That section of his nearly hour-and-a-half-long address — his first of two speeches to supporters on Saturday — was hardly the most animating for the audience inside the Washington Hilton ballroom.

Trump drew far more applause when he told attendees he was “being indicted for you,” or that he would review the cases of “political prisoners … victimized by the Biden regime.” He received a more muted reaction from the conservative crowd when he acknowledged that under Dobbs, “some states are a little bit more conservative, and some states are much more liberal.” Trump was also unapologetic about his stance in favor of exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest or protecting a woman’s life — a position not often promoted at socially conservative gatherings.

“You have to go with your heart,” Trump said of his approach to abortion regulation. “You have to also remember, you have to get elected.”

Still, there was no question that Trump had the full support of his audience, despite not going as far as some of them would like on abortion restrictions.

Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, enthusiastically welcomed Trump on stage as a “dear friend of the organization,” noting it was Trump’s ninth time speaking at the group’s annual Road to Majority conference.

“They told us we couldn’t trust him. They told us he couldn’t keep his word,” Reed said of Trump’s efforts in 2016 to woo evangelicals. “But as president of the United States, he kept every single promise he made to us and the American people.”

Trump’s keynote speech at the event wasn’t confirmed until Thursday afternoon, which raised questions about whether Trump would make it to this year’s gathering at all. Prior to complaining from the stage that the “lights are blinding,” Trump conceded that “somebody” on his campaign had canceled his appearance at Faith & Freedom due to a rally being scheduled Saturday night in Philadelphia. But he said that once he found out, he insisted on speaking to the Christian group in the afternoon.

Ricardo Lopez, who attends a Hispanic church near Indianapolis, told POLITICO that the Republican Party “has to be against” abortion and expressed support for a federal ban on the medical procedure.

“God has put [Trump] where he’s at, and we’ll be supporting him all the way,” Lopez said.

Lisa Babbage, 53, who is running for state Senate in Gwinnett County, Georgia, said she would also like Trump to express support for federal abortion restrictions, and suggested he is merely receiving campaign advice to do otherwise.

“Honestly, I’m really disappointed in the courage of some Republicans,” Babbage said.

Amilcar Acosta, the 65-year-old pastor of a Hispanic church in Richmond, Virginia, endorsed a “step by step” approach to abortion policy, despite expressing optimism that Republicans could put forward a national ban if they amassed enough power in upcoming elections. But he believes Trump’s deference to state legislatures “won’t work” in states with Democratic leadership, he said.

Others attending the conference merely endorsed Trump’s stance.

Donna Widawski, a 64-year-old former law enforcement officer from Loudon County, Virginia, said she feels strongly about immigration and law enforcement, but took less of a hard line on abortion.

“Leave it with the states to decide for the people that live in their states,” Widawski said.