Trump To Clergy: "Say What You Want to Say"

The president has been a vocal opponent of the Johnson Amendment, the provision in the tax code that bans churches and other houses of worship from campaigning for political candidates if they want to keep their tax-exempt status. His latest executive order was meant to undermine that tax law so that clergy can endorse candidates from the pulpit without fear of repercussions.

But the vast majority of clergy, even among the evangelical Christians whose votes Trump relied on, had never objected to the Johnson Amendment. In February, 89 percent of evangelical leaders said in a National Association of Evangelicals poll that they do not think pastors should endorse politicians from the pulpit.