This week, JD Vance delivered a rousing speech to the crowd at the fifth annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit in Washington, D.C. This was a historic speech, not only because he was the highest-ranking official to attend the conference but also because he reiterated Trump’s promises to support religious liberty. Vance recounted Trump’s victories during his first term and promised to continue prioritizing the issue.
More than 1,000 attendees flocked to the IRF summit this year. Guests included ‘The Office” star Rainn Wilson and a number of prominent clergy. However, Vance’s speech stole the show. “You shouldn’t have to leave your faith at the door of your people’s government, and under President Trump’s leadership, you won’t have to,” he said to the cheering crowd.
“This administration is intent on not just restoring but on expanding the achievements of the first four years,” Vance added. “In this short period, the president has issued orders ending the weaponization of the federal government against religious Americans, pardoned pro-life protesters who were unjustly imprisoned under the last administration, and, importantly, stopped the federal censorship used to prevent Americans from speaking their conscience and speaking their mind, whether it’s in their communities or online.”
The vice president explained that religious freedom is “the bedrock of civil society in the United States of America” and the steps the Trump administration has already taken to protect it. “He took decisive action to defend religious liberty, combat antisemitism and preserve the conscience rights of hospital workers and faith-based Ministries as they provide care to their fellow Americans, and to remove barriers from religious organizations and businesses to contract with the federal government,” he explained.
“Part of our protecting religious freedom initiatives means recognizing, in our foreign policy, the difference between regimes that respect religious freedom and those that do not,” Vance orated. “The United States must be able to make that distinction. We must be able to look at the catastrophes like the plight of Iraq’s Christians over the past three decades and possess the moral clarity to act when something has gone wrong.
While IRF co-chair Katrina Lantos Swett is a Democrat, she expressed gratitude for Vance’s remarks. “I think it’s a reflection of the respect and support, really, for what this movement is about, that even in the very early days of the administration, the vice president made time to join us and spoke so eloquently about the cause we’re engaged in,” she reacted.
Vance defended the president’s move to halt funds to nongovernmental organizations. “In recent years, too often, our nation’s international engagement on religious liberty issues has been corrupted and distorted to the point of absurdity,” he explained. “Think about this: How did America get to the point where we’re sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars abroad to NGOs that are dedicated to spreading atheism all over the globe?”
Watch part of Vance’s speech right here:
In his concluding remarks, he explained why religion is vital to a free society. “The church was a place… where people of different races, different backgrounds, different walks of life came together in commitment…to their God,” he said. “Are these not the kinds of bonds and virtues [that] lawmakers today should strive to cultivate? Well, I’m pleased to say that they certainly were in the first Trump administration, and they will be even more so in the second.”
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