A coalition of Christian leaders devoted to helping end poverty has released a series of videos featuring six 2016 presidential candidates. Each candidate explained the approach that he or she would take to solve poverty and hunger issues in the United States and across the globe if they were elected president.
As over 45 million Americans are living below the poverty level, The Circle of Protection, a coalition representing a diverse group of over 65 Christian leaders and organizations headed by Bread For The World, Sojourners and the National Association of Evangelicals, challenged each presidential candidate on the day they announced their candidacy to provide a video explaining their plans to end poverty.
"This is for us a deeply moral issue and first of all, it is a biblical issue," Sojourners founder Jim Wallis said during a Tuesday press call. "What our scripture tells us is that a nation's integrity, its righteousness is most determined by how it treats its poorest and most vulnerable, and leaders in particular are asked by the prophets to treat the needy with highest priority, not the last in line but the first."
The coalition released the first six candidate response videos it received, which includes videos from Sen. Ted Cruz, R- Texas, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.