Several evangelical Christians are sticking with Donald Trump despite the latest controversy on his lewd remarks on women that have cost him the support of some of his party mates.
Although they were not pleased at all with the Republican presidential nominee's derogatory remarks caught on video that was revealed on Friday, these evangelicals say they will continue to support his candidacy, The Washington Post reports.
"Evangelicals are simply not going to vote for Hillary Clinton," said David Lane, a founder of the American Renewal movement, a group that's actively campaigning for Trump.
"Donald Trump's comments were stupid and they were awful. But they were from some years ago," Lane said on Saturday. "The question is where is he now. Donald Trump is moving. He was on national television; he apologised; he said he was wrong."
The video taken in 2005 showed Trump bragging about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women. It was published by The Washington Post on Friday.
Lane said he has conferred with pastors and national evangelical leaders around the country and found out that "these guys are behind him, as they were before."
Gary Bauer, who now leads the Campaign for Working Families, said he would continue to support Trump.
"The 10-year-old tape of a private conversation in which Donald Trump uses grossly inappropriate language does not change the reality of the choice facing this country," he said in a statement posted to his organisation's website. "Hillary Clinton is committed to enacting policies that will erode religious liberty, promote abortion, make our country less safe, and leave our borders unprotected. ... Donald Trump will reverse these failed policies. I continue to support the Trump-Pence Ticket."
Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council Action, said he found Trump's behavior as shown in the video "deeply offensive and degrading." However, he said his support for Trump "was never based upon shared values rather it was built upon shared concerns," including the Supreme Court, America's security, and religious freedom, according to The Christian Post.
"We are left with a choice of voting for the one who will do the least damage to our freedoms," he said.
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and a member of Trump's religious advisory board, also dismissed the latest scandal.
"I think given the stakes in this election and those and other critical issues, I just don't think an audiotape of an 11-year-old private conversation with an entertainment talk show host on a tour bus, for which the candidate has apologised profusely, is likely to rank high on the hierarchy of concerns of those faith-based voters," Reed said.
Not all Christian conservatives have the same view.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called the Trump video a "disgrace" and "a scandal to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the integrity of our witness."
