Tough Questions for Donald Trump
Texas Values Action, CitizenLink, and our national alliance of nearly 40 state-based family policy councils representing millions of Evangelicals nationwide, today released an open letter to presidential candidate Donald Trump calling on him to answer direct questions on his policy positions.
Leading candidates have been invited to participate in CitizenLink’s Presidential Candidate Teleconferences. So far, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and former Gov. Jeb Bush have participated on the calls, as well as former Sen. Rick Santorum and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, prior to suspending their campaigns. Dr. Ben Carson is scheduled for later this month. Donald Trump has been invited several times to join the Presidential Candidate Teleconference Series but has yet to accept.
“It is past time for Mr. Trump to clear up his contradictory record on critical issues that Texans, and millions of Americans across the country, care about. Pro-family voters care deeply about protecting religious freedom, restoring marriage between one man and one woman, and defending the unborn. Mr. Trump’s public comments and record on these fundamental issues are particularly concerning to Texas voters and should be to all Americans,” said Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values Action. Read our full news release.
Our alliance is sending the letter to Mr. Trump’s campaign and we’re sharing it with you, because part of our job is getting the answers that you need to make informed decisions about who will lead our country.
Please find the open letter below:
Mr. Trump:
We, the undersigned, represent millions of pro-family Americans who are dedicated to a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished. As a national alliance with nearly 40 state-based organizations, we have invited you to participate in our Presidential Teleconference Series to share your views on the issues important to values voters. We have interviewed most of the leading candidates, but after several attempts, we have not yet been able to schedule such a call with you. Therefore, we direct the following questions to you on policy issues important to our constituents:
- After years of describing yourself as “pro-choice in every respect”—even supporting partial-birth abortion—you now say that you are pro-life. Your explanation for this change of position – that a baby who was nearly aborted ended up being a “superstar” – is confusing, particularly since you acknowledged that if the child had been “a loser,” your pro-abortion position probably wouldn’t have changed. Please explain this utilitarian view of the sanctity of human life. Do you consider life only worth protecting if it meets certain criteria, and, if so, what are those criteria?
- How do you square your new position on life with your statements in 2015 supporting continued taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion seller?
- The next president is expected to nominate two to four U.S. Supreme Court justices, beginning immediately with the vacancy caused by the passing of Justice Scalia. These nominations will likely decide critical issues such as abortion. You’ve recommended your sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, for the High Court. Yet, as a federal judge, she overturned the New Jersey Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, writing that it“burdened a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion.” How can we trust you to nominate judges who will respect the constitutional limits on judicial power and uphold the sanctity of human life?
- You claim to support religious freedom, yet a leading gay-activist organization calls you “one of the best, if not the best, pro-gay Republican candidates to ever run for the presidency” – particularly because of your “standout position” when it comes to legislation that forces Christian business owners – and others of faith – to either betray their conscience or lose their business. How do you reconcile these contradictory positions?
- You have built your campaign on lifting the economic outlook of lower-income Americans, yet you built your fortune in part on gambling, which preys on those very people. How will you make America great when you’ve run businesses associated with increased crime, bankruptcies, broken marriages and suicides?
- The first casino in the nation to add a strip club was Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, which boasts of “36,000 square feet of adult entertainment.” What would you say to young girls and women who are concerned about a president who is directly connected with the exploitation of women?
- As someone who claims to be a fiscal conservative, how do you justify your statements in support of a huge tax increase and government bailouts. Regarding the bank bailouts, you even stated: “I do agree with what they’re doing with the banks. Whether they fund them or nationalize them, it doesn’t matter, but you have to keep the banks going.” Perhaps most concerning of all is your continued admiration for single-payer, government-run healthcare systems. Please explain how this is consistent with the party of limited government?
- One of your favorite campaign themes is that you are going to “run America” if elected. Considering our system of checks and balances, and especially in light of the last seven years of government by fiat, how will you demonstrate your respect for the U.S. Constitution and the limited power the Founding Fathers intended for the federal government in general, and the executive branch in particular?
Mr. Trump, we look forward to your response to these, and many other questions, affecting the lives of American families nationwide.
Signed,
Jonathan Saenz
President
Texas Values Action
Paul Weber
President & CEO
CitizenLink
Jim Minnery
President
Alaska Family Action
Jerry Cox
President
Family Council Action Committee (Arkansas)
Cathi Herrod
President
Center for Arizona Policy Action
Peter Wolfgang
President
Family Institute of Connecticut Action
John Stemberger
President
Florida Family Action
Duke Aiona
President & CEO
Hawaii Family Advocates
Bob Vander Plaats
President & CEO
The FAMiLY LEADER (Iowa)
Julie Lynde
Executive Director
Cornerstone Family Action (Idaho)
Curt Smith
President
Indiana Family Action
Steve Brunk
Executive Director
Family Policy Alliance of Kansas
Kent Ostrander
President
The Family Foundation of Kentucky
Carroll Conley
Executive Director
Christian Civic League of Maine
John Helmberger
Chief Executive Officer
Minnesota Family Council
Jeff Laszloffy
President & CEO
Montana Family Foundation
Tom Freier
Executive Director
North Dakota Family Policy Alliance
Bryan McCormack
Executive Director
Cornerstone Action (New Hampshire)
Len Deo
Founder & President
New Jersey Family First
Rev. Jason J. McGuire
Executive Director
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms
Phil Burress
Chairman
Citizens for Community Values Action (Ohio)
Michael Geer
President
Pennsylvania Family Council
Victoria Cobb
President
The Family Foundation Action (Virginia)
Julaine Appling
President
Wisconsin Family Action
