Trump vows to defeat anti-Semitism at National Day of Prayer service
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump took part in a National Day of Prayer service at the White House Thursday morning, after holding a National Day of Prayer dinner Wednesday night. Present in the White House Rose Garden Thursday morning was Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein of the Chabad of Poway, California, who lost a member of his congregation and part of his own fingers when a gunman opened fire at his synagogue on Saturday.
"We will fight with all our strength and everything that we have in our bodies to defeat anti-Semitism, to end the attacks on the Jewish people and to conquer all forms of persecution, intolerance and hate. You know that. You know that, rabbi," Mr. Trump said Thursday. "Every citizen has the absolute right to live according to the teachings of their faith and the convictions of their heart. This is the bedrock of American life."
Thursday marks the National Day of Prayer, a day created in 1952 with a joint resolution of Congress, and signed by then-President Harry Truman.
Mr. Trump has emphasized religious liberty as a cornerstone of his presidency and has won key support from many evangelicals, despite his past comments about and payments to women over alleged affairs. In the past, Mr. Trump has also said he doesn't think he's ever asked God for forgiveness because he doesn't need to do so.
"I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so," Mr. Trump said in 2015. "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."
The National Day of Prayer event comes as the president continues to bash his enemies. On Wednesday he called Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas," blasted Hillary Clinton and the Justice Department.
On Wednesday, Washington was focused on Attorney General William Barr's defense of the president and his four pages of principle conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
