Trump says DNC withdrew ‘under God’ from pledge of allegiance to appeal to evangelical Christians

President Donald Trump on Saturday morning sought to appeal to evangelical Christians, suburban mothers and voters in the Midwest, falsely claiming Democrats are attacking their values ​​- even going so far as to remove “God” from the Oath of allegiance.

Trump on Saturday expanded on the debunked claim that organizers of the Democratic National Convention removed the word “God” from the pledge of allegiance. Although the line was omitted from some small DNC meetings, the words “under God” were included. in many televised recitations of the prime-time convention engagement – including a version said the grandchildren of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The omission of “under God” was not included in any official DNC directive.

But Trump, in an appeal to evangelical voters, tweeted Saturday that the omission of individual caucus meetings is a sign of what’s to come for Americans.

“The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Democratic National Convention pledge. At first I thought they made a mistake, but they didn’t. It was on purpose. Remember evangelical Christians, and ALL, that’s where they came from… it’s done. Vote on November 3rd! ”the president wrote on Twitter Saturday morning.

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The words “under God” were added to the pledge of allegiance in 1954 under President Dwight Eisenhower in response to secular communist beliefs of the time, according to the nonprofit Independence Hall Association’s USHistory.org. In June 1954, “under God” was officially incorporated into the pledge by a joint resolution of Congress which amended the Flag Code of 1942.

On the first night of the DNC, as was widely reported by the conservative media, the participants sang The star spangled banner instead of reciting the promise. But on the second, third and fourth nights, “under God” was said by the DNC participants.

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The president, who has the vast majority of support among white Christians and evangelicals, has previously invoked the phrase “under God” in order to unite his supporters. “We are ONE movement, ONE people, ONE family and ONE GLORIOUS NATION UNDER GOD!” he told his supporters in December 2019.

In addition to his Christian base, Trump also tweeted on Saturday a direct appeal to suburban women – a demographic that many polls show have taken away from him since the 2016 contest against Hillary Clinton. Earlier this month, Trump said “suburban housewives” strongly supported him, but an NPR / PBS NewsHour poll showed two-thirds, 66%, of suburban women disapprove of the work he made as president.

“Why would suburban women vote for Biden and the Democrats when Democrat-run towns are now overrun with crime (and they’re not asking for help from the federal government) that could easily spill over into the suburbs, and they’ll rebuild, on steroids, their low-income suburb plan! ”Trump tweeted.

Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign and the DNC for additional remarks on Saturday morning.