What came out of Donald Trump's meeting with 900 Christian leaders?

CB Condez Friday, June 24, 2016

The closed-door meeting between Donald Trump with more than 900 Christian leaders and social conservatives on Tuesday has prompted many observations and opinions, and one is that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee "underperformed."

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pauses for a moment of silence for the victims of the mass shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub during a campaign speech about national security in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. June 13, 2016. | REUTERS/Brian Snyder

According to an article on New York Mag, Trump was not able to convince anyone new to endorse him, and most of those attendance have already decided beforehand to vote for him. His problem, the article says, is he "underperformed," having only answered a few questions and only reiterating the pledges he already made before, such as appointing Supreme Court judges who are against abortion and protecting religious liberty. The article claims that Trump's "heart is not into it," and while the leaders will "dutifully" vote for him, there's no "conjoining of souls going on."

Michael Farris, Chancellor of Patrick Henry College, wrote on Facebook that an organizer of the event "agreed that the obvious implication of the meeting was to rally support for Trump." He was told that he wasn't invited because he had been "too vocal" in his views against the candidate. Of the meeting, he said he has an opposing opinion regarding "the wisdom of their chosen path."

"This meeting marks the end of the Christian Right. The premise of the meeting in 1980 was that only candidates that reflected a biblical worldview and good character would gain our support," he wrote. "Today, a candidate whose worldview is greed and whose god is his appetites (Philippians 3) is being tacitly endorsed by this throng."

In report by Time, those who attended had positive reaction to the meeting, and Trump reportedly received a standing ovation.

National Review, meanwhile, said that the attendees left the meeting "united by visceral opposition to Hillary Clinton," but they are also divided when it comes to Trump's candidacy. Moreover, even though some of the organizers of the event showed enthusiasm about the meeting, none of them endorsed him outright. The articles claims that the common response of attendees who were asked about Trump's performance "was a shrug."

"Overall it was positive, just because he was here. And personally, he has my vote," National Review quotes Concerned Women for America president Penny Nance as saying. "But the question still is whether I can feel confident in asking people to join me."