Donald J. Trump attended a service on Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa.Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Donald J. Trump is not usually a candidate who invokes the words of evangelical voters. But on Sunday, he went to church in eastern Iowa, where he studied “humility,” he later told attendees at a rally.
Mr. Trump sat for the entire service, which lasted over an hour, at First Presbyterian Church here, accompanied by Deborah Whitaker, whose son was killed in an accident shortly after returning from a tour of duty.
From the front of the church, the pastor acknowledged the presence of Mr. Trump, who sat in the fifth pew, with Ms. Whitaker to his right, sharing a book of prayer. When the collection plate was passed, Mr. Trump tossed in money; two crisp $50 bills peeked out from under a handful of singles minutes later.
He listened to a children’s chorus and shook hands with people sitting behind him when it came time to offer greetings to others. Two of his security guards sat behind him, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, sat in the pew in front of him.
Mr. Trump, who sometimes reminds people of his Presbyterian faith, has nonetheless generally avoided speaking the language of the more-religious voters in the Iowa caucuses. But at a rally on Sunday, he mentioned attending church.
“We talked about humility in church today,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “I don’t know if that was aimed at me, perhaps,” he joked, drawing laughs.
Mr. Trump was last seen going to church on New Year’s Eve in Florida.
Backstage, he told a handful of reporters that he enjoyed the service. “I have more humility than people think,” he said.
But he sounded a serious note about the final stretch before the Iowa caucuses.
“It’s crunch time, folks,” Mr. Trump said. “I mean, I wanna win Iowa. I really wanna win it.”
He acknowledged that the polls that lead up to the voting are not what ultimately matter.
“The polls have me winning now, but who knows about polls, I mean the only poll is the poll that takes place on Feb. 1, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
From the stage at his rally, Mr. Trump repeatedly urged the crowd to go take part in their caucuses, even handing out registration forms.
He was introduced by the chairman of Republican Party of Iowa, Jeff Kaufmann, who is prohibited from making an endorsement. But he heaped praise on Mr. Trump and said he would easily support him as the party’s nominee.
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MUSCATINE, Iowa — Donald J. Trump is not usually a candidate who invokes the words of evangelical voters. But on Sunday, he went to church in eastern Iowa, where he studied “humility,” he later told attendees at a rally.
Mr. Trump sat for the entire service, which lasted over an hour, at First Presbyterian Church here, accompanied by Deborah Whitaker, whose son was killed in an accident shortly after returning from a tour of duty.
From the front of the church, the pastor acknowledged the presence of Mr. Trump, who sat in the fifth pew, with Ms. Whitaker to his right, sharing a book of prayer. When the collection plate was passed, Mr. Trump tossed in money; two crisp $50 bills peeked out from under a handful of singles minutes later.
He listened to a children’s chorus and shook hands with people sitting behind him when it came time to offer greetings to others. Two of his security guards sat behind him, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, sat in the pew in front of him.
Mr. Trump, who sometimes reminds people of his Presbyterian faith, has nonetheless generally avoided speaking the language of the more-religious voters in the Iowa caucuses. But at a rally on Sunday, he mentioned attending church.
“We talked about humility in church today,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “I don’t know if that was aimed at me, perhaps,” he joked, drawing laughs.
Mr. Trump was last seen going to church on New Year’s Eve in Florida.
Backstage, he told a handful of reporters that he enjoyed the service. “I have more humility than people think,” he said.
But he sounded a serious note about the final stretch before the Iowa caucuses.
“It’s crunch time, folks,” Mr. Trump said. “I mean, I wanna win Iowa. I really wanna win it.”
He acknowledged that the polls that lead up to the voting are not what ultimately matter.
“The polls have me winning now, but who knows about polls, I mean the only poll is the poll that takes place on Feb. 1, so we’ll see what happens,” he said.
From the stage at his rally, Mr. Trump repeatedly urged the crowd to go take part in their caucuses, even handing out registration forms.
He was introduced by the chairman of Republican Party of Iowa, Jeff Kaufmann, who is prohibited from making an endorsement. But he heaped praise on Mr. Trump and said he would easily support him as the party’s nominee.
Articles about Trump
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