Trump says he’d remove ban on religious nonprofits endorsing candidates

Donald Trump tells conservative Christians he would work to remove restrictions on churches endorsing political candidates.

“I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution to Christianity — and other religions — is to allow you, when you talk religious liberty, to go and speak openly, and if you like somebody or want somebody to represent you, you should have the right to do it,” Trump tells a group of conservative Christian leaders.

Speaking at his corporate headquarters in New York, the real estate magnate and presumptive Republican presidential nominee tells the group that restrictions placed in the 1960s on explicit political endorsement by tax exempt groups inhibited free speech.

“It’s taken a lot of power away from Christianity and other religions,” he says, in an audio recording obtained by the Washington Post.

— JTA