c-span's public affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app. be part of the national conversation through c-span's daily washington journal program or through our social media feed. c-span, created by america's cable television companies as a public service and brought to you today by your television provider. ♪ carrying the risk of exacerbating tensions further. we are joined next by ralph reed, founder of the faith and freedom coalition and author of a brand-new book, for god and country, the christian case for trump. ralph reed, thank you for being with us on washington journal this morning. guest: thanks so much. host: let's start at that moment yesterday in front of st. john's church in the nation's capital with the president, walking over to the church and holding a

bible in his hand. what do you think the president's message at that moment was? guest: i think the point the president was making, this is one of the most historic sacred sites in our country. this is a place where presidents have worshiped. it is known as the church of presidents. i was very privileged and honored to be with the president and his family and friends at st. john's, the morning of his inaugural, to pray for him, for his family, to pray for the vice president and his family, and to have a service dedicating his administration to the common good of the people and to the glory of god and the building of his kingdom. i know it is a special place of the president and all americans, to see rioters attempting to burn that historic structure, with all of its symbolism, to

the ground, i don't want to speak for the president but as an american, i was glad that he went there. it was symbolic, that is important. the things he does with the bully pulpit of his office conveys a message and the message was i believe, we are not going to allow our country by -- our country to be run over by rioters and looters and terrorists, and i'm glad he did it. host: in the aftermath of the president speech, the bishop of the episcopal diocese, had comments about the president's message which in part she said i am outraged, i am the bishop of the episcopal diocese in washington and was not given even a courtesy call that they would be clearing the area with teargas so they could use one of our churches as a prop. everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. we need moral leadership and he

has done everything to divide us. is the bishop justified her outrage? guest: no. president has a responsibility and takes in oath of office with his hand on the and defend the constitution of the united states and the primary function of that office is to ensure domestic tranquility and to defend the homeland against foreign foes. if the president fails to do that, than they have failed in their primary responsibility, and i think he was -- i think it was very important for him in the call he had with the governors yesterday, in the eloquent statement he made at the rose garden in which he made it clear that he was prepared to use the u.s. military to ensure our cities are no longer burning and to ensure that law-abiding

citizens are no longer beaten nearly to death and stoned by rioters and domestic terrorists. this is wrong, it is on american and i think my going to st. john's -- i think by going to st. john's and making it clear, that is the answer. the ultimate answer to what ails this country, including in the original sin of racism, his faith in god and redemption through jesus christ. that is the ultimate answer. it doesn't mean we don't do things as public policy to weress grievances and ensure address justice and that we ensure a fair shot for every american regardless of their ethnic background or the color of their skin, to be able to chase and pursue the american

dream as far as their talents and abilities will carry them. all of those policies and measures alone will not ensure repentance by those who have committed injustice and forgiveness by those who have been the victims. i think it was good for him to go to a house of worship, particularly when liquor stores and massage parlors and abortion clinics have been allowed to be open during the covid-19 pandemic, but churches have been ordered closed and christians have been arrested and given citations for trying to worship. i am glad he did it. frankly he does not need the permission of the bishop to do so. host: power lines for those of you who are republican, (202)-748-8001. for democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. ralph reed is our guest. the new book is for god and country, the christian case for trump.

and what iswrite it the christian case for trump? guest: the reason why i wrote it was not so much a defense of donald trump, although i do plenty of that in the book and proudly so. i am a strong supporter and good friend of his. i have a 30 page appendix in the book that details all of the accomplishments and achievements of president trump and his administration just in the first three years of his first term, but i really wrote the book and what motivated me and my objective was to defend the christians and the evangelicals who have been pilloried, smeared, demeaned, insulted, called every name in the book. they have been accused of being hypocrites and spiritual frauds and sellouts who bankrupted the gospel and politicized their faith for 30 pieces of silver

and access to power, and i think that is not only alive, i think it is a smear. the christian case for trump is quite simple. 2016, go back and look at two thirds of self identified evangelicals and conservative christians voted for somebody other than donald trump in the republican party primary. most of them, ted cruz but also mike huckabee, marco rubio, many great candidates. he was not their first choice. choice reached a binary between haney -- between him and hillary clinton and he pledged life, tot unborn appoint originalist judges to defend the state of israel and to be the best friend that israel has ever had, moving the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem and recognizing

jerusalem as the capital of israel, and defend our first amendment rights different -- religious freedom and our ability to express our faith free from persecution, he said for all of those things and does today and hillary clinton and joe biden stand on the opposite of every one of those issues, and i think that he is advancing -- does he occasionally say or tweet something i wish he wouldn't? sure he does, but he is advancing those moral issues and the common good, hand i think the other side is advancing grave moral evils by standing for the opposite. it wasn't just a politically right thing to do, to support him then and now, it was the morally right thing to do. they were early -- they were morally compelled to stand on those issues. writefrom your book, you certainty on the sanctity of innocent human life, religious supportand unyielding

for israel, president trump has been the champion for biblical values of people of faith. the only remaining question is this, will the faith community step up to the plate to defend its principles as enthusiastically as the left and democrats plan to do in 2020? plenty of calls waiting. we will hear from trent in louisiana. caller: hey ralph. the scripture i have been living in in my christian -- is here our god for we are despised, our captors sneer and scorned us and say sing us a song, sing us a song, but how can we sing in an alien land? -- wems like we are in have intense powers and principalities over blacks, and withispanics, etc.

this perfect storm emerging with the virus and the economy and china and civil unrest, i am wondering with 40 million unemployed, is there something tocan do as evangelicals stand behind, and help the country? and auestion is serious little bit of a hackle on c-span have such great book reviews and a guy they had on right before the virus hit was fh buckley from george mason university, and he was talking about -- his book was entitled american secession, the looming threat of a national breakup. that might be a good thing in this crisis. i am interested in the your -- in your point of view. guest: i am not familiar with

mr. buckley's book. i am familiar with him and his work. this is not a criticism of the book because i have not read it, of abrahambig fan lincoln and i take the lincoln position when it comes to secession and miss unity. we need to stay together as a country. in a moment like this it is easy to lose perspective into think we have never been this divided before and we never had these kinds of divisions. 1968 was a much bloodier year than this. the assassination of martin luther king, virtually every major city rioting and burning to the ground. the assassination of robert f kennedy. american soldiers dying every day in vietnam. a massive protest against that war.

you go back to the great depression and look at the bonus army of world war i veterans that literally occupied the city of washington and had to be dispersed by military troops, with many people being entered -- injured and killed. go back to the civil war period. there have been many times in our history where we have been more divided than this. what we need to do, i think is two things. number one we need to pray. we need to intercede for the president and all of our leaders. these people are being stretched to the very limit right now. they have just come through a pandemic when many of them were working 20 hour days and now they are still in the pandemic in dealing with this, and incredible law enforcement challenge and riots in the streets and destruction of property, people being injured, police being shot at.

them and foray for leadership at this time. i think the other thing we need policys support sound and actions that will restore domestic tranquility and get us back on the right track. we don't have time in this format to go through all the things that i would propose, but first of all i agree with what the president said yesterday. we need to take our streets back. i live in the city of atlanta. i am joining you from atlanta. this is the cradle of the civil rights movement. it is the city that gave the nation and the world martin luther king. hereeached here, he led and he preached nonviolence and love for one's enemy. these people who have hijacked these protests are doing everything the opposite of what dr. king preached, taught, and lived. we need to restore order first

and after that we need to look towards an agenda that will ensure police brutality is dealt with. we need to ensure there is economic opportunity for all, educational opportunity for all. i personally am a strong supporter of school choice, and allowing young african-american children who are trapped in schools where they cannot learn and are not safe, and where they do not have a future, schools that look like they could have been designed by the ku klux klan. we need to allow them to go to a home school or private school or christian school where they can learn and get off on the right foot on that run of their lives. there are things i think we can do, but first we have to secure the streets. host: we go to madison, wisconsin on the republican line. consider that donald

trump paid off prostitutes and point stars, working on his third wife. cheated on his wife while she was pregnant and all of the moral ineptitude see has committed. recommending bleach and other things to use on the human body. utter chaos in office. how in good conscious could you support a person like this? you are a political opportunist of the first order and just like money lenders were shoved out of the temple by jesus christ, you should too. thank you. guest: i will leave aside the personal attack on me. i would just say i don't know if you are a christian or not or a professing believer, but i think the arguments you just made about donald trump are not only consistent with the gospel that

jesus preached when he was here on earth and taught, it is the very opposite. he didn't condemn people who were sinners and lead imperfect lives. stone andseeking to smear sinners who had lead imperfect lives and made terrible mistakes. i am not going to preach this morning but one of my favorite scenes in the gospel is when he is with the woman at the well and she is a samaritan. judeo,context of ancient she was of a mixed race, so there was a racial division between the jews and her. she was living with a man who was not her husband. she had been married five times before. generally not considered appropriate and beneath the dignity of a jude to associate with a samaritan, and for a man

to be engaged in conversation with a woman of her reputation. jesus didn't mistreat her at all. he engaged her in a conversation. he not only turned her life around but she went back to her village, convinced him to stay and many more came to christ. the application of the caller is that because somebody has made mistakes in their past, that i am supposed to as a christian exclude them from ever being of service again. that is not what the gospel teaches. it teaches the exact opposite, and thank goodness. i am a sinner, saved by grace. i am not here this morning saying i am perfect or i haven't made mistakes. i say i serve a perfect lord, and it's about him. it's not about a religion, it's about a relationship with the savior hoover gave me and can forgive you and yes he can

forgive donald trump. i would just say quickly, i address all of this in my book. i am not unfamiliar with this smear and discharge. you guys are hypocrites because you supported a man who has been and these other personal allegations they throw out. in the 90's, when i was in the christian coalition, i said the people who said that about bill clinton were not acting in a way that was consistent with the gospel. i said if bill clinton is a sinner, he is no worse or better than me or you. i have been consistent on this and i address it all in the book and i explained why the caller is wrong, and why as long as somebody protects the integrity of their office and keeps their campaign promises, and leads as they say they will lead, why they shouldn't be disqualified

for past moral failings. i spent a lot of time in washington and if you don't want people in office who have made mistakes in their personal lives, the capital would be empty. they would not be anybody there. host: let's go to bob in pennsylvania. caller: good morning and thanks for c-span. we are all sinners. it is not going to be fixed until god comes back. the only thing we have to go by is what people are saying. butourse we are all sinners we put a man in office, president of all the people. my thing with donald trump, hillary clinton was just as bad. i am independent and that is why we are at where we are at. we put the same people back in office. my thing with donald trump, i

stopped listening to him when he stopped -- when he handicap -- when he mocked that handicap news man. like to bed women felt up by celebrities. he thinks him building buildings is the same thing as a family losing a member in war. then what those football players trying to kneel, to show what was going on, what did he say? fire the sons of bitches. he is calling -- he claims he can commit murder on the street and get away with it. host: how do you think the president, behavior has evolved -- the president's behavior has evolved? how has his demeanor changed? of all he raised the access hollywood tape and some of the crude comments the

president made on that tape. i issued a statement at that time that as the father of two daughters i didn't appreciate those comments. the first is either or the second book of timothy in you aree where it says to treat older women as sisters and younger women as if they were your daughters in all purity. that is not what i stand for and neither.defend it and did he he apologized. he admitted it was inappropriate. as he said in the debate, i guess it was the second debate after the tape came out, he said those were words that were inappropriate and wrong. they are not who he was. but they are words. he said what bill clinton did were deeds and what hillary

clinton, not only defended his deeds but she attacked the attackers and engaged in a strategy of denouncing them as slots and nuts and help to put a campaign apparatus together to smear women who had been abused by her husband. i guess the argument that i would make to the caller, the argument i make for god and country is not that donald trump is a saint, not that he isn't in need of think of occasion. not that he doesn't occasionally make a mistake or rationally say a word i wish he wouldn't but given the binary choice between an agenda that puts america first, defends our country, keeps us from being ripped off by china, turns the economy around once, i think he will do it again after this pandemic is over, stands for innocent human toe, appoints originalists

the court, defends israel, dismantles isis and supports our first amendment right to freedom of speech and religion, which i think is not only -- not only important, but foundational to our freedoms. do you think some of the things the caller did not like outweigh all that good, all those moral goods? or do you want somebody who is a sunday school teacher who can't defend the country, who wrecks the economy, and who supports abortion on demand, paid for with your tax dollars, up until the moment the baby is being born? i believe that his people and i don't care if you are a perfectly moral person, a sunday school teacher, or a saint. if you are for that, i cannot and will not support you. host: let's see if we can get a call or two more. loretta in cleveland, ohio -- go

ahead. caller: good morning. that was a smear. you want, but you don't want to deal. i can't believe some of the things that come out of your mouth this morning. host: yeah. evangelical are christian card, not standing by while black people are dying in the street. trump got kids locked up in cages. poverty across america. 40 million out of work. no health care during a pandemic. and what did he do? for today he said he was peaceful protest, and then he had them bombed and gassed, so

he could get a path over to the church. host: let you go there, the retta. last caller, ralph reed. your final thoughts. would say ising i prior to the pandemic the african-american unemployment was the lowest ever recorded, 3.5%, 3.5% for the whole country. my recollection is between 5:00 for% and 6% african-americans. the hispanic unemployment rate was the lowest ever recorded. the rise in personal income was significant, particularly for those at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. and i was privileged to work with the president in the white house to pass the first step act, the most sweeping criminal justice reform in a generation. it gave young blacks who had been locked up in prison and the key thrown away, often for

nonviolent crimes, a second chance at life. barack obama was president for .ight years ofn joe biden was chairman the judiciary committee, he is the one who passed the crime bill that led to all this mass incarceration. i think better educational opportunities for minorities and blacks, better economic opportunity, aching the criminal justice system fair, and giving people a better chance of life if they make a mistake on all those things donald trump has been a friend of african-americans and of those who care about those issues. i just don't agree with the ofler's characterization either me or the president's policy. host: the new book is "the forgotten country: the christian

case for trump." our journal,'s washington everyday we were taking your calls live on the air and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. morning, aednesday discussion of the senate judiciary hearing on the crossfire hurricane investigation with zach allen. we talk about the protest following george floyd's killing with heather mcdonald. al green will join us to discuss the continuing protests nationwide. watch c-span's washington journal, live at 7:00. join thediscussion -- discussion. >> on wednesday, former deputy attorney general ron rosenstein testifies before the senate judiciary committee on the fisa application products -- process.

investigation was taken over by special counsel robert mueller who was appointed in 2017. watch live coverage beginning at 10:00 eastern on c-span, on-demand that c-span.org, or listen live wherever you are on the free c-span radio app. >> earlier today president trump and first lady melania trump visited the think john paul ii national shrine in washington, d.c.. this fall of the president's action yesterday where he posed outside the historic st. john's episcopal church with a bible while protests were happening outside the white house. while protests were taking place outside the white house.