CBN News reporter Jenna Browder here filling in for David Brody while he’s on vacation.
"I’m not perfect.” That’s what Donald Trump told me earlier today during my exclusive interview with him. I sat down with the GOP Presidential nominee earlier after he spoke to hundreds of pastors at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. He was invited by the American Renewal Project.
I asked him about a line in his RNC acceptance speech where he thanked evangelicals for their support even though he said he probably didn’t deserve it.
It’s a side we rarely see of the billionaire businessman known for his bold and sometimes brash personality.
Click on the video to watch the clip.
Mandatory Video/Audio Courtesy CBN News.
The transcript is below.
Jenna Browder: In your RNC acceptance speech, it was a really endearing moment, you thanked evangelicals for their support but you said, "I don’t necessarily always deserve it." Why did you say that?
Donald Trump: Well, because I think I’m not perfect, and because I think I’m less perfect than some people, but I have certain abilities that are good, like, being able to do things, and I think I’ll be able to things that will be really great for the evangelicals and others and they understood that.
Pastor Jeffress was so great, where he would go on television, and I had never met him, and he said 'Donald Trump may not be perfect, but he’s a great leader and that’s what we need.' And that’s what I appreciated. I’d watch him. I didn’t know, now I know him, he’s a terrific person. Paula White is another example. I’d watch her on television and she’d be saying such positive things. Great people. These are great people and it would be wonderful if they could open up their voices if they were allowed.
Because they get absolutely hit with the 501(c)(3), which is the tax exempt status, which is a tremendous hit. It’s a shattering hit, and it really keeps them silent. Free speech is being taken away from people who are saying good things, not bad things. And if I can do that, I will have done a great thing for religion as a whole, and it’s so important to me.