Rabat - President Donald Trump declared on February 2 that he will "get rid of and totally destroy" an amendment that prevents religious groups from supporting or standing against political candidates.
Rabat – President Donald Trump declared on February 2 that he will “get rid of and totally destroy” an amendment that prevents religious groups from supporting or standing against political candidates.
Trump’s policies and executive orders have not ceased to cause controversy in the US and beyond. In a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on Thursday, Trump said that he would “get rid of and totally destroy” so-called Johnson amendment.
“I will get rid of, and totally destroy the Johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution, I will do that, remember,” Trump said.
Senator Lyndon B Johnson introduced this amendment in 1954 to block religious institutions from backing or opposing political candidates by threatening to remove their tax-exempt status.
Trump pointed out that this is a sacred right, noting that “it’s also a right under the threat all around us and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways.”
In a tacit reference to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the US president said, “We’ve seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom.”
