Next month on September 28th, Donald Trump will meet with a couple dozen Christian leaders and pastors at his Trump Tower office in New York. The Brody File spoke with the man who is spearheading the effort. His name is Pastor Darrell Scott from Cleveland Ohio. He heads up the non-denominational New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Ohio. He tells me the church has a “Pentecostal/Charismatic persuasion.”
I spoke with Pastor Scott on the phone Wednesday evening and he explains to me that his relationship with Donald Trump started roughly five years ago when he met Michael Cohen, one of Donald Trump’s top executives, through a mutual friend. The relationship between Scott and Cohen blossomed into a nice friendship and then around four years ago, Pastor Scott and his wife met privately with Trump. During that meeting, they had an opportunity to discuss his faith and they all prayed together as well.
Fast forward to this past June when Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States. It was around that time that Pastor Scott reached out to Cohen to see if Mr. Trump would be interested in a private meeting with pastors in which they would pray for him and discuss his views and strategies on a number of different issues. Eventually a date was set: September 28th.
As for the meeting, names are not being released at this point but Pastor Scott, who is African-American, believes this meeting with the GOP frontrunner will definitely give some African-American preachers a chance to form their own opinion about Trump rather than hearing information secondhand. Pastor Scott tells me the list of preachers who will be invited to the private meeting will be diverse as he reaches out to white, Hispanic and black clergy.
It’s important to point out that this meeting is a personal gathering, not political. Scott says he’s not for or against Trump. “This meeting will assist us in our decision making process,” Scott tells The Brody File. “I’m pro-Christianity. Anytime I can have a dialogue and exchange of ideas with prominent Americans or people in influential positions concerning Christianity I welcome back.” He also told me that he hopes to meet with some of the other candidates as well. As for Trump, Pastor Scott tells me he’s always been impressed with his personality, honesty, bluntness and forthrightness, not to mention his leadership skills.