There is a time-honored tradition in American journalism to endorse candidates for political office. Every four years since 1984, we’ve endorsed a candidate for president, the only election the readers of a national magazine share. This year we endorse Donald Trump. Our cover story and related articles in the October issue of Charisma magazine make the case for our decision.
Before we could write the cover story, we felt we needed to interview Donald Trump personally. We began asking for an interview in June. It happened on Aug. 11 in Orlando. Trump was in town to speak to some home builders and then to a group of about 500 pastors. He told the crowd he had just spoken to home builders, but that they (the pastors) were home builders, too, which got a great response.
Before Trump spoke without a teleprompter (he said the prepared speech was so boring it would have put everyone to sleep), he was introduced by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. “Every year, everyone says it’s the most important election of our lifetime, Huckabee said. “But folks, I’m not messing—this really is the most important election of our lifetime.”
After his ad-libbed speech in which he talked about religious liberty issues and even repealing the 1954 “Johnson Amendment” that prevents any nonprofit, including churches, from making political endorsements, I met for 10 minutes in a back room with Trump for the interview. You can hear on it my Strang Report podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.
I’ve interviewed a number of presidential candidates, governors and other politicians in my 45-year media career. But the opportunity to interview Trump in the midst of his unlikely campaign strikes me as markedly different.
With Trump, what you see on television is not what you get behind the scenes. A sense of humility surrounded the Republican nominee that many don’t see in liberal media soundbites. He still shot straight, but his sincerity was far more striking than what we can portray in black and white in a magazine.
In my brief interview with Trump, I asked him the questions I thought mattered most to our Charisma readers. I believe his answers show a confident, determined man who truly is committed to making America great again through government based on principles that honor God rather than defy Him.
The full interview will run in the October issue of Charisma along with a package of articles that make the case for how God is raising up Trump at a critical period in history and, conversely, how voting for Hillary Clinton and the far left platform she endorses should be opposed at all costs. There is also an interview with Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence.
While you must wait to read the interview, you can listen to it on my podcast. Dr. Steve Greene, who has his own popular “Greenelines” podcast, accompanied me to the Trump interview. He and I talk in the studio about the behind-the-scenes of how we got the interview, our observations of what happened that day and why we think electing Trump is right for America. (Charisma Assistant Online Editor Taylor Berglund accompanied us to the interview and wrote observations from a millennial point of view, which you can read here).
Recently, I got some podcast statistics, and Lance Wallnau’s podcast on May 6—regarding how he believes God is raising up Trump as He raised up Cyrus—is far and away the most popular podcast ever. Last week, I recorded three more podcasts with Wallnau about what he believes God is saying in this election. If you missed them, you will want to listen. I also invited him to write the cover story about it in Charisma‘s October issue.
At the same time, Pastor Jim Garlow recorded a podcast about an article we posted 10 days ago about this election and makes the case for why Christians cannot sit on the fence. Already, it’s been shared 766,000 times and has had more than a million page views. If you missed the article or podcast, you will want to check it out and also share it.
Finally, I posted an iPhone video of this interview (from which the audio was taken) on my Steve Strang Facebook page. I rarely push that page but you may want to “like” it to receive materials I believe are important. Plus, you can easily post your comments for me to read.
I hope you enjoy listening to my interview with Donald Trump and that you share this podcast with others. {eoa}
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