Jeffress Delivered Pro-Trump Prayer At Dallas Rally

Robert Jeffress Is A Fox News Contributor And Pastor Of First Baptist Church In Dallas. [FoxNews.com, accessed 9/15/15]

Jeffress Prayer At Dallas Rally: “We Come Before You Thanking You For Donald Trump.” During Trump's September 14 rally in Dallas, Texas, Jeffress delivered the event's opening prayer:

JEFFRESS: Tonight, we come before you thanking you for Donald Trump who, along with others, is willing to selflessly offer himself for service to this nation, for no other reason than he desires to make America great again. [KSAZ, 9/14/15, via YouTube]

Trump: “What A Good Guy ... I Love This Guy.” Trump praised Jeffress during the opening portion of his September 14 speech. Trump said of Jeffress: “What a good guy. Where is he? Come here. I love this guy.” He added: “I really want to thank you because you've been so good -- he said, 'He may not be perfect, but he's going to make this country great. He's a leader, that's what we need.' And I want to thank you, pastor.”

[Fox News, On the Record, 9/14/15] 

Jeffress Has Attacked Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, And Mormonism

Jeffress On Catholicism: An Example Of “What Satan Does With Counterfeit Religion.” As Right Wing Watch reported, Jeffress has suggested that Catholicism is a tool of Satan, claiming “that's what Satan does with counterfeit religion. He uses, he steals, he appropriates all of the symbols of true biblical Christianity, and he changes it just enough in order to cause people to miss eternal life.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/8/11]

Jeffress: Catholicism Is A “Cult-Like, Pagan Religion.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/8/11]

Jeffress: “You Can't Be Saved Being A Jew.” Jeffress stated in 2011:

JEFFRESS: I think part of the problem is we're in this consumer mentality as a church where we have the idea that our job is to build as big of a church as we possibly can. And if we get into that idea and fall into that trap, then we say then we can't say anything that's going to offend people, why, if we preach that homosexuality is an abomination to God we better not preach that because that's going to offend the gays or people who know gay people, if we tell people what the Bible says that every other religion in the world is wrong: Islam is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell; Mormonism is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell; Judaism, you can't be saved being a Jew, you know who said that by the way, the three greatest Jews in the New Testament, Peter, Paul, and Jesus Christ, they all said Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ. [Media Matters, 9/26/12]

Jeffress: Believing In “Religions Like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism” Will Lead People To Hell. As Mother Jones reported, during a 2010 lecture, Jeffress stated:

God sends good people to Hell. Not only do religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism--not only do they lead people away from from God, they lead people to an eternity of separation from God in Hell. You know Jesus was very clear: Hell is not only going to be populated by murderers, and drug dealers, and child dealers; Hell is going to be filled with good religious people who have rejected the truth of Christ. [Mother Jones, 10/10/11]

Jeffress: “Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism And Mormonism Are All False Religions.” In 2011, Jeffress stated: 

“Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Mormonism are all false religions and I stand by those statements,” Jeffress said from the pulpit, according to WFAA.

“I feel like I ought to use, personally, whatever influence I might have to try to elect a godly leader and place him in the White House,” Jeffress said. “It is important for us to elect Christian leaders who embrace biblical principles.” [Politico, 10/10/11]

Jeffress: Mormonism Is A “Cult.” Fox News reported of Jeffress:

Jeffress mentioned the word “cult” in referring to Romney's religion when he spoke to reporters after introducing Perry on stage. The comment drew a strong rebuke from conservative icon Bill Bennett and disavowal from Perry's campaign. 

But after considerable backlash, Jeffress stood by his definition on Sunday, saying the Southern Baptist Convention deems Mormonism a “cult,” though he distinguishes between a “sociological” cult and a “theological” one.

Mormons have “never been considered a part of mainstream Christianity,” Jeffress told Fox News. “Mormonism was invented 1800 years after Jesus Christ and the founding of Christianity, and it has its own founder, Joseph Smith, its own set of doctrines and its own book, the Book of Mormon. And that, by definition, is a theological cult, that's all I'm saying.” [Fox News, 10/9/11]

Jeffress: “Mormonism Is Wrong, It Is A Heresy From The Pit Of Hell.” [Media Matters, 9/26/12] 

Jeffress: Islam Is An “Evil, Evil Religion.” Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow quoted Jeffress as stating of Islam: “I believe, as Christians and conservatives, it's time to take off the gloves and stand up and tell the truth about this evil, evil religion.” Jeffress also said Islam is “a violent religion” that “promotes pedophilia.” [Dallas Morning News, 9/5/10]

Jeffress Is Virulently Anti-Gay: “Miserable Lifestyle,” “Filthy,” Sign Of The Apocalypse

Jeffress Believes Gay People Lead A “Miserable Lifestyle.” [Right Wing Watch, 7/27/12, via Media Matters]

Jeffress On Gay People: “What They Do Is Filthy. It Is So Degrading That It Is Beyond Description.” The Christian Post wrote of Jeffress: 

In a 2008 sermon titled “Gay is not OK,” Jeffress said: “What they [homosexuals] do is filthy. It is so degrading that it is beyond description. And it is their filthy behavior that explains why they are so much more prone to disease.” [Christian Post, 2/1/13]

Jeffress: Gay People Are Using “Brainwashing Techniques.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/12/11]

Jeffress Cited Approval Of Gay Marriage As A Sign Of The Coming Apocalypse. While discussing his book Countdown to the Apocalypse on Fox News Radio, Jeffress claimed: “The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 1 that in the last days it will be terrible times. And that word terrible means lack of moral restraint. And I think we're seeing that everywhere, whether it is the attempt to change the most basic unit of society, the family and marriage by redefinition of marriage. Or the acceptance of perversion.” [Media Matters, 2/11/15]

Jeffress Said The Supreme Court's Marriage Decision Was The Greatest “Blunder” In Its History. Jeffress told his congregation in June that the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision was “the greatest, most historic, landmark blunder in the history of the United States Supreme Court.” [Media Matters, 6/30/15]

Jeffress Compared Supreme Court's Marriage Decision To Nazi Germany's Treatment Of Jews. The Christian Post reported of Jeffress following the Supreme Court's ruling:

Labeling Friday's ruling as another step toward the complete marginalization of Christian conservatives, Jeffress compared America's growing intolerance toward biblical viewpoints to Nazi Germany's marginalization of Jews.

“I think today's decision is just one more step in the marginalization of conservative Christians. I made this argument and have been ridiculed for doing so, but I think it is very legitimate. The Nazis did not take the Jews to the crematoriums immediately,” Jeffress explained. “The German people would not have put up with that. Instead, the Nazis begin to marginalize the Jewish people, make them objects of contempt and ridicule. Once they changed the public opinion about the Jewish people, then they engaged the [Holocaust].”

“Once secularists have made Christians objects of contempt, I think it will be very easy to revoke other rights that they have as American citizens,” Jeffress continued. [Christian Post, 6/26/15]

Jeffress: “Homosexuality Is Perverse, It Represents A Degradation Of A Person's Mind.” The Los Angeles Times reported of Jeffress:

“There are a disproportionate amount of assaults against children by homosexuals than by heterosexuals, you can't deny that,” Jeffress said in July. “And the reason is very clear: Homosexuality is perverse, it represents a degradation of a person's mind and if a person will sink that low and there are no restraints from God's law, then there is no telling to whatever sins he will commit as well.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/21/13]

Republicans Have Condemned Jeffress' “Bigotry”

Rick Perry Distanced Himself From Jeffress. After Jeffress attacked Mitt Romney for his Mormon religion during the 2012 campaign, Rick Perry distanced himself from Jeffress. The New York Times reported:

The Perry campaign sought to put some distance between Mr. Perry and Mr. Jeffress, stating that the governor “does not believe Mormonism is a cult” and that Mr. Jeffress was chosen to speak by the organizers of the event, the Values Voter Summit, which was put on by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association and other evangelical Christian groups. [New York Times, 10/7/11]

Mitt Romney: Jeffress Engages In “Divisiveness Based Upon Religion.” Romney stated of Jeffress:

“I just don't believe that that kind of divisiveness based upon religion has a place in this country. I believe in the spirit of the founders, when they suggested in crafting this country that we would be a nation that tolerated other people, different faiths -- that we'd be a place of religious diversity,” Romney continued. [Huffington Post, 10/11/11]

Jon Huntsman: Jeffress Is A “Moron.” CNN reported of comments by former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman:

“The fact that, you know, some moron can stand up and make a comment like that, you know, first of all, it's outrageous,” Huntsman said on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” [CNN.com, 10/10/11]

Karl Rove On Jeffress' Remarks: “It's The Kind Of Thing That Doesn't Belong In Politics.” Rove said of Jeffress' anti-Mormon remarks while speaking on Fox News:

ROVE: This was a terrible mistake on the part of the pastor. It's the kind of thing that doesn't belong in politics. We want our candidates, we want our leaders to be people of faith, but, you know, we don't get into and we haven't gotten into since at least the 1960 presidential election into a determination over whether or not somebody's professed faith is acceptable to the vast majority of Americans. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 10/10/11]

Former Reagan Education Secretary Bill Bennett: Jeffress Gives “Voice To Bigotry.” Politico reported of former Republican official and current conservative commentator Bill Bennett:

“Do not give voice to bigotry. Do not give voice to bigotry,” Bennett said in his speech Saturday morning. “I would say to Pastor Jeffress: You stepped on and obscured the words of Perry and Santorum and Cain and Bachmann and everyone else who has spoken here. You did Rick Perry no good, Sir, in what you had to say.” [Politico, 10/8/11]