Trump gets official and unofficial endorsements from 2 leading evangelicals

(RNS) Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the late televangelist, endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, a move that will likely dismay GOP rival Ted Cruz, a Southern Baptist who is banking on evangelical votes.

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the late televangelist, endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. Photo by Ryan T. Stone/courtesy USA Today

“He is a successful executive and entrepreneur, a wonderful father and a man who I believe can lead our country to greatness again,” Falwell said in the statement released Tuesday (Jan. 26).

The news follows an unofficial Trump endorsement Saturday (Jan. 23) from an influential evangelical pastor from Cruz’s home state.

Robert Jeffress, who leads First Baptist Dallas, has been introducing Trump on the stump. As a pastor, Jeffress cannot officially endorse any candidate and maintain his church’s tax-exempt status. But he added:

“I want you to know I would not be here this morning if I were not absolutely convinced that Donald Trump would make a great president of the United States. … Most Americans know we are in a mess, and as they look at Donald Trump they believe he is the one leader who can reverse the downward death spiral of this nation we love so dearly.”

Robert Jeffress reads from the Bible. Photo by David Edmonson, courtesy of First Baptist Church, Dallas, TXDr.

The endorsements come in time for the Iowa caucuses Monday (Feb. 1), the first major test of candidates with voters.

// <![CDATA[
(function(){var g=this,k=function(a,b){var c=a.split("."),d=g;c[0]in d||!d.execScript||d.execScript("var "+c[0]);for(var e;c.length&&(e=c.shift());)c.length||void 0===b?d=d[e]?d[e]:d[e]={}:d[e]=b},aa=function(a){var b=typeof a;if("object"==b)if(a){if(a instanceof Array)return"array";if(a instanceof Object)return b;var c=Object.prototype.toString.call(a);if("[object Window]"==c)return"object";if("[object Array]"==c||"number"==typeof a.length&&"undefined"!=typeof a.splice&&"undefined"!=typeof a.propertyIsEnumerable&&!a.propertyIsEnumerable("splice"))return"array";if("[object Function]"==c||"undefined"!=typeof a.call&&"undefined"!=typeof a.propertyIsEnumerable&&!a.propertyIsEnumerable("call"))return"function"}else return"null";else if("function"==b&&"undefined"==typeof a.call)return"object";return b},ba=function(a,b,c){return a.call.apply(a.bind,arguments)},ca=function(a,b,c){if(!a)throw Error();if(2<arguments.length){var d=Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,2);return function(){var c=Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);Array.prototype.unshift.apply(c,d);return a.apply(b,c)}}return function(){return a.apply(b,arguments)}},l=function(a,b,c){l=Function.prototype.bind&&-1!=Function.prototype.bind.toString().indexOf("native code")?ba:ca;return l.apply(null,arguments)};var n=function(a,b){var c=parseInt(a,10);return isNaN(c)?b:c};var p;var u=String.prototype.trim?function(a){return a.trim()}:function(a){return a.replace(/^[\s\xa0]+|[\s\xa0]+$/g,"")},v=function(a,b){return ab?1:0};var da=Array.prototype.indexOf?function(a,b,c){return Array.prototype.indexOf.call(a,b,c)}:function(a,b,c){c=null==c?0:0>c?Math.max(0,a.length+c):c;if("string"==typeof a)return"string"==typeof b&&1==b.length?a.indexOf(b,c):-1;for(;cparseFloat(a))?String(b):a}(),E={},F=function(a){var b;if(!(b=E[a])){b=0;for(var c=u(String(D)).split("."),d=u(String(a)).split("."),e=Math.max(c.length,d.length),f=0;0==b&&f<e;f++){var h=c[f]||"",m=d[f]||"",r=RegExp("(\\d*)(\\D*)","g"),ma=RegExp("(\\d*)(\\D*)","g");do{var q=r.exec(h)||["","",""],t=ma.exec(m)||["","",""];if(0==q[0].length&&0==t[0].length)break;b=v(0==q[1].length?0:parseInt(q[1],10),0==t[1].length?0:parseInt(t[1],10))||v(0==q[2].length,0==t[2].length)||v(q[2],t[2])}while(0==b)}b=E[a]=0<=b}return b},G=g.document,ia=G&&A?C()||("CSS1Compat"==G.compatMode?parseInt(D,10):5):void 0;var H;if(!(H=!B&&!A)){var I;if(I=A)I=9<=Number(ia);H=I}H||B&&F("1.9.1");var J=A&&!F("9");var K=function(a){var b=document;return"string"==typeof a?b.getElementById(a):a},L=function(a,b){var c=b||document;return c.querySelectorAll&&c.querySelector?c.querySelectorAll("."+a):ka(a,b)},ka=function(a,b){var c,d,e,f;c=document;c=b||c;if(c.querySelectorAll&&c.querySelector&&a)return c.querySelectorAll(""+(a?"."+a:""));if(a&&c.getElementsByClassName){var h=c.getElementsByClassName(a);return h}h=c.getElementsByTagName("*");if(a){f={};for(d=e=0;c=h[d];d++){var m=c.className,r;if(r="function"==typeof m.split)r=0<=da(m.split(/\s+/),a);r&&(f[e++]=c)}f.length=e;return f}return h},la={SCRIPT:1,STYLE:1,HEAD:1,IFRAME:1,OBJECT:1},M={IMG:" ",BR:"\n"},na=function(){var a=document.getElementById("feedback-closing-template");if(J&&null!==a&&"innerText"in a)a=a.innerText.replace(/(\r\n|\r|\n)/g,"\n");else{var b=[];N(a,b,!0);a=b.join("")}a=a.replace(/ \xAD /g," ").replace(/\xAD/g,"");a=a.replace(/\u200B/g,"");J||(a=a.replace(/ +/g," "));" "!=a&&(a=a.replace(/^\s*/,""));return a},N=function(a,b,c){if(!(a.nodeName in la))if(3==a.nodeType)c?b.push(String(a.nodeValue).replace(/(\r\n|\r|\n)/g,"")):b.push(a.nodeValue);else if(a.nodeName in M)b.push(M[a.nodeName]);else for(a=a.firstChild;a;)N(a,b,c),a=a.nextSibling},O=function(a){this.w=a||g.document||document},oa=function(a,b){return L("feedback_description",b||a.w)};O.prototype.createElement=function(a){return this.w.createElement(a)};O.prototype.createTextNode=function(a){return this.w.createTextNode(String(a))};O.prototype.appendChild=function(a,b){a.appendChild(b)};var P=function(a){var b=window;return b.getComputedStyle?b.getComputedStyle(a,null):a.currentStyle};var Q=function(a,b){a.addEventListener?a.addEventListener("click",b,!1):a.attachEvent&&a.attachEvent("onclick",b)};var R=function(a){var b=window;b.google_image_requests||(b.google_image_requests=[]);var c=b.document.createElement("img");c.src=a;b.google_image_requests.push(c)};var pa=function(a){var b={};if(a&&a.key_value){a=a.key_value;for(var c=0;c<a.length;c++){var d=a[c];if("key"in d&&"value"in d){var e=d.value;b[d.key]=null==e?null:String(e)}}}return b};var qa=function(a){a=String(a);if(/^\s*$/.test(a)?0:/^[\],:{}\s\u2028\u2029]*$/.test(a.replace(/\\["\\\/bfnrtu]/g,"@").replace(/(?:"[^"\\\n\r\u2028\u2029\x00-\x08\x0a-\x1f]*"|true|false|null|-?\d+(?:\.\d*)?(?:[eE][+\-]?\d+)?)[\s\u2028\u2029]*(?=:|,|]|}|$)/g,"]").replace(/(?:^|:|,)(?:[\s\u2028\u2029]*\[)+/g,"")))try{return eval("("+a+")")}catch(b){}throw Error("Invalid JSON string: "+a);},T=function(a){var b=[];S(new ra,a,b);return b.join("")},ra=function(){this.o=void 0},S=function(a,b,c){if(null==b)c.push("null");else{if("object"==typeof b){if("array"==aa(b)){var d=b;b=d.length;c.push("[");for(var e="",f=0;f=this.h.bottom&&this.h.left>=this.h.right)},va=function(){var a=new ua;return a.O&&(!a.aa||a.P>=a.$)};var V=function(a,b,c,d){this.G=a;this.R=b;this.T=c;this.m=0;this.l=document.getElementById("mtadmas");this.M=document.getElementById("mtadmaundo");this.C=document.getElementById("mtadmac");this.D=document.getElementById("mtadmback");this.J=document.getElementById("mtadmpc");this.N=document.getElementById("mtadmpundo");this.A=document.getElementById("mtadmpunclose");this.L=this.u=this.H=this.F=null;this.v=0;this.i=null;this.j=!1;this.s=null;this.W=d?d.getAdsLength():1;(this.g=d)&&this.g.registerWidget(this,0);this.I=0},wa=function(a){for(var b=document.getElementsByName("surveyOptions"),c=0;c<b.length;c++)Q(b[c],l(a.X,a,b[c].value));a.M&&Q(a.M,l(a.B,a,"1"));a.N&&Q(a.N,l(a.B,a,"3"));a.A&&Q(a.A,l(a.Y,a));a.D&&Q(a.D,l(a.back,a));a.g&&(a.g.listenOnObject("mute_option_selected",l(a.K,a)),a.g.forEachAd(l(function(a){a.listenOnObject("multislot_mute_collapse",l(this.V,this));a.listenOnObject("multislot_mute_collapse_undo",l(this.U,this))},a)))};V.prototype.K=function(a){this.F=a.close_button_token;this.H=a.creative_conversion_url;this.u=a.ablation_config;this.L=a.undo_callback;this.v=a.creative_index||0;this.g&&(this.s=this.g.getAd(this.v));if(1===a.type){a=L("survey");for(var b="survey_"+this.v,c=0;c<a.length;c++)a[c].style.display=a[c].id==b?"block":"none";a=document.getElementsByName("surveyOptions");for(b=0;b<a.length;b++)a[b].checked=!1;this.l.style.display="block";W(this);X(this)}else 0===a.type&&(this.J.style.display="block",this.l.style.display="none",W(this),xa(this,document.getElementById("pub-feedback-closing"),this.u))};var Y=function(a){a.i&&(window.clearInterval(a.i),a.i=null,a.j=!1);K("pub-feedback-closing").style.display="none";K("ad-feedback-closing").style.display="none"};V.prototype.B=function(a){this.j||(Y(this),R(Z(this,"user_feedback_undo",a)),this.L())};V.prototype.Y=function(){var a={msg_type:"resize-me"};a.key_value=[{key:"r_nh",value:String(this.I)},{key:"r_str",value:"animate"}];a=T(a);window.top.postMessage(a,"*");this.j=!1;this.B("3")};V.prototype.back=function(){this.j||(Y(this),this.l.style.display="block",W(this),X(this))};V.prototype.X=function(a){this.C.style.display="block";this.l.style.display="none";X(this);R(Z(this,"mute_survey_option",a));a=document.getElementById("ad-feedback-closing");this.m