Trump Calls New York Democrats ‘Godless Communists’ in Faith & Freedom Speech
He spoke at the Washington Hilton, where a gunman charged the ballroom in April.
President Trump accused left-wing politicians of embracing communism, singling out recent Democratic primary winners in New York City as he addressed the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual Road to Majority conference Friday at the site of an alleged assassination attempt just two months ago.
“As you saw with the communists elected in New York City recently, the communists are not social democrats,” he told the crowd gathered at the Washington Hilton. “They want to completely destroy the traditional American way of life.”
Mr. Trump said the ideology was deceptively appealing, joking that he himself could thrive peddling it. “Communism is very easy to sell. It destroys everything, but it’s very easy,” he said. “I’d be the greatest communist in history. I give free rent. Ladies and gentlemen, from now on, you don’t have to pay any rent. From now on, anybody wants a house, don’t worry about it. Just pick the house you want. Everybody gets free food.”
“The problem is, after two or three years, the country is a disaster area,” Mr. Trump continued. “You’ll start living in squalor. There will be no food, there will be no housing, there will be no military, there will be no law and order, there will be no nothing.”
Mr. Trump went further, asserting that “assassinations of those who oppose them is a very important element of their ideology.”
“These are not social democrats, these are hardcore godless communists,” he said. “They’re godless communists. All communists are godless.” He called the trend “the most serious threat to our country since its existence.”
Mr. Trump — who grew up in his family’s New York rental-apartment business — criticized the city’s Rent Guidelines Board for voting Thursday to freeze increases on rent-stabilized apartments for two years despite rising energy and tax costs, a decision he linked to the city’s mayor. Zohran Mamdani made freezing rents a central part of his campaign platform.
“They’re basically confiscating their property,” he said, adding that the policy would turn the buildings “into ghettos and slums” and drive more residents out of the city.
The president, who spoke for roughly an hour, framed his speech around faith, drawing connections between Christianity and the nation’s founding ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. “From the very beginning of our country, American greatness has been forged by people of faith,” he said.
He touted actions he said protected religious believers, including pardoning Christians he said were jailed under President Joe Biden’s administration “for saying prayers.”
Mr. Trump renewed his claim he had effectively ended enforcement of the Johnson Amendment’s restrictions on political activity by churches and took credit for creating a White House Faith Office and a Justice Department task force on anti-Christian bias. That task force presented its findings to him shortly after his speech.
The president also pressed for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voters to show photo identification and proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The measure would also largely eliminate mail-in voting except for illness, disability, military deployment, or travel. He criticized Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican, by name over her opposition: “She’ll never win another election,” he said.
Mr. Trump closed by invoking the national motto, telling the crowd Democrats want to strike “In God We Trust” from public life. “We’re never changing that,” he said. “We’ll fight for that.”
He urged the audience to mobilize ahead of November’s elections. “We’ve got to win the midterms,” he said, telling supporters that anything Republicans have accomplished since taking office could be undone if Democrats retake Congress.
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