Thousands of people have signed a petition launched by a Christian organization condemning Donald Trump's 2024 bid for the White House.
Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago club on Tuesday night, became the first candidate to formally launch a 2024 campaign, following a disappointing performance for the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections. Many Republicans blamed the former president after numerous Trump-endorsed candidates lost their races.
It came as Trump is facing a series of criminal investigations, including one probing documents with classified markings that were seized from his Florida home and another into his attempt to cling to power after his defeat in the 2020 election.
The morning after Trump's announcement last week, Faithful America launched a petition that has since amassed more than 14,000 signatures.
The petition says that Trump announced his latest presidential campaign with a speech "laced with fearmongering and lies" and made it clear he "intends to double down on the fascist tactics" that led to the "Christian-nationalist" attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
"We don't know much yet about how the 2024 election will play out, but one thing is certain: Another Trump presidency would be a disaster for our country," it adds. "Multiple power-hungry pastors and Christian-nationalist leaders like Mike Huckabee, Mark Burns, and Eric Metaxas are already lining up to stand with him, falsely pretending they speak for all Christians."
The petition urges Christians to "speak out" and "make it clear that Donald Trump does not share our values and will never have our votes."
Reverend Nathan Empsall, the executive director of Faithful America, said Trump had repeatedly "weaponized" religion in his past two presidential campaigns.
"The insurrectionist ex-president repeatedly weaponized religion in his last two campaigns, and 2024 will be no different. Neither the country nor the church can afford another four years of this charlatan's fascism, racism, misinformation, or ego," Empsall told Newsweek in a statement.
"Contrary to what Trump and his Christian-nationalist allies preach, Christianity is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who taught us love, equality and dignity—values the vast majority of American Christians understand, and values they hold dear, and remember when we vote."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.
Faithful America also launched a petition earlier this month condemning Republicans including Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally, as "false prophets."
That petition, which amassed more than 15,000 signatures, says "leaders of the Christian nationalist movement come to us in sheep's clothing by claiming to speak for Jesus, but ultimately prove themselves to be ravenous wolves who manipulate the language of religion and care only for themselves, devouring the rights of non-Christians, women, migrant families, voters, and the LGBTQ community."
It adds that a majority of Christians across the country "are sick of seeing false prophets like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Franklin Graham, Doug Mastriano, J.D. Vance, and Michael Flynn warp the Gospel for their cultural agenda of hatred, power, and division."
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