As the 2020 presidential election gets closer, President Donald Trump is trying to solidify his base of support, especially following House Democrats’ recent impeachment of him. To that end, he’ll be hosting an “Evangelicals for Trump” event on Friday, January 3, at the King Jesus International Ministry’s Miami-area megachurch. Now, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, which advocates for the Constitutionally-mandated separation of church from state, has sent a letter to the IRS requesting an investigation into whether the church violated the demands of its nonprofit status with its de facto support for Trump.
The church claims that they’re not formally endorsing anyone; in their description, they’re just leasing the space to the Trump campaign. Yet, Pastor Guillermo Maldonado reportedly told congregants that if they “want to come, do it for your pastor,” because “that’s a way of supporting me.” That’s pretty direct — and an apparent violation of federal tax law, and in this case, that violation is boosting the Trump campaign.
The watchdog foundation’s legal director Rebecca Markert wrote to the IRS:
‘In urging congregants to come to a political rally, and in hosting the political rally, King Jesus Ministry appears to have inappropriately used its religious organization and 501 (c)(3) status… It violated IRS regulations by seemingly expressing its support for a candidate in a November 2020 presidential election.’
Perhaps specifically because of concern about federal tax law, on the church’s webpage detailing the Friday event, it specifically repeats the claim that it’s not actually endorsing Trump, no matter how publicly thrilled they seem to have his campaign on the premises. The church says:
‘Our ministry does not endorse any political candidates or engage in political campaigns. It is a religious organization that ministers to the community. While we advocate for issues we care deeply about, such as family and respect for life, we do not take positions in political campaigns… our agreement to provide rental space is not an endorsement of President Trump’s campaign or any political party.’
Even still, the church’s connections to the president don’t end there. Pastor Maldonado is part of the coalition who’s having their launch event at his church this week. That coalition is described by the church as pastors who will “pray for and advise the President on spiritual matters and important issues from a Christian perspective.”
The event and coalition have been in the making for awhile, but reportedly, the president’s team rushed to go ahead and announce the launch event following the magazine Christianity Today‘s public support for impeachment. That publication was originally founded by the late Christian evangelist Billy Graham, but the Grahams no longer lead there, and following its pro-impeachment piece, Billy’s son Franklin expressly condemned the paper — as did Trump, who wildly called the still very much conservative outlet some kind of bastion of leftism.
His latest campaign push in response to that comes as poll numbers remain dismal for him. The majority of recent polls have shown him losing to all leading Democratic presidential candidates in hypothetical general election match-ups.
