Trump Announces Evangelical Advisory Board Featuring Michele Bachmann, Jerry Falwell Jr. | Sojourners

Trump Announces Evangelical Advisory Board Featuring Michele Bachmann, Jerry Falwell Jr.

Flickr / Gage Skidmore
Michelle Bachmann. Photo via Flickr / Gage Skidmore

This is it — these are the people who will serve as Donald Trump's evangelical advisers for the next 140 days leading up to election day, and perhaps even longer.

After meeting with a large group of conservative Christian leaders in New York City, Donald Trump has chosen his evangelical advisory board. Its members will advise the presumptive Republican nominee on issues important to the faith community.

The most well-known names on the list include former Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, and Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed.

Some of the names on the list, including James Dobson, have critcized Trump in the past.

Politico reports:

Certain names on the list, like Dobson and Richard Land, the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, have made public their criticisms of Trump.

Ahead of the South Carolina primary in February, Dobson recorded a robocall boosting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as the only viable candidate to beat Trump. In a post on CharismaNews.com published March 3, Land acknowledged populist anger but wrote, "it must be said, before it is too late, that whatever the problems may be, Donald Trump is not the answer. I fear that the millions of Americans who are putting their trust in Mr. Trump will be bitterly disillusioned if he were to obtain the nation's highest office."

Members of the board were not asked to endorse Trump to participate, the campaign said, but rather the list represents "Donald J. Trump’s endorsement of those diverse issues important to Evangelicals and other Christians, and his desire to have access to the wise counsel of such leaders as needed."

The full list is as follows:

Michele Bachmann - Former Congresswoman
A.R. Bernard - Senior Pastor and CEO, Christian Cultural Center
Mark Burns - Pastor, Harvest Praise and Worship Center
Tim Clinton - President, American Association of Christian Counselors
Kenneth and Gloria Copeland - Founders, Kenneth Copeland Ministries
James Dobson - Author, Psychologist and Host, My Family Talk
Jerry Falwell, Jr. - President, Liberty University
Ronnie Floyd - Senior Pastor, Cross Church
Jentezen Franklin - Senior Pastor, Free Chapel
Jack Graham - Senior Pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church
Harry Jackson - Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
Robert Jeffress - Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas
David Jeremiah - Senior Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church
Richard Land – President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
James MacDonald – Founder and Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel
Johnnie Moore - Author, President of The KAIROS Company
Robert Morris - Senior Pastor, Gateway Church
Tom Mullins – Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship­
Ralph Reed - Founder, Faith and Freedom Coalition
James Robison - Founder, Life OUTREACH International
Tony Suarez - Executive Vice President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Jay Strack - President, Student Leadership University
Paula White - Senior Pastor, New Destiny Christian Center
Tom Winters - Attorney, Winters and King, Inc.
Sealy Yates – Attorney, Yates and Yates

Read more at Politico.