Kay Warren, Beth Moore criticize Trump for encouraging violence at political rallies
Kay Warren spoke out about President Donald Trump's antics at a recent political rally where a protester had to be removed.
"I am appalled that the POTUS repeatedly (listen to his words all those who would @ me) encourages physical violence toward those who oppose him in rallies. This is not leadership. It’s not even adult behavior. This is childish foot-stomping at best," the author, speaker and Bible teacher said in a tweet Monday, along with a video from NowThis Media.
Warren co-founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, with her husband, Pastor Rick Warren. Since the death of her son to suicide and mental illness, she has advocated mental health awareness and founded Saddleback’s Hope for Mental Health Initiative.
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The video shows the president saying "Get her out!," speaking of a female protester wearing a T-shirt with a large pink middle finger containing the text "Grabbing power back." As the crowd boos, she was removed.
"See these guys want to be so politically correct ... I'll tell you law enforcement's so great," Trump said.
"That particular guy wanted to be so politically correct. We don't want to be politically correct," he added, referring to law enforcement's handling of the situation.
Remarking that law enforcement should've been less "politically correct" appeared to suggest he wanted the officers to handle the protester roughly.
The video also documents previous remarks Trump made when he was a candidate where he expressed his desire to punch someone on the face and told audiences to "knock the crap out of 'em" should they see someone ready to throw a tomato, and then promised to pay for their legal fees.
"I was gonna hit this guy so hard his head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened," Trump said at an event in Iowa.
"Maybe he should have been roughed up," he said during a Fox & Friends interview about another event where a protester was screaming at another event and the crowd subdued him.
Chiming in on Warren's thread, Bible teacher and speaker Beth Moore added: "This is what we demanded and, without the merciful intervention of God, this is what we are going to reproduce."
"By reproduce I mean that we will raise up a generation of people taught by example to think this is what appropriate power looks like. This is how we talk to and talk about people. It will be the epitome of 2 Timothy 3. Abusive speech, slanderous, boastful, etc," she said.
Warren co-founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California with her husband Rick in 1980. She is also the founder of Saddleback's Hope for Mental Health Initiative, which was borne out of the death of their 27-year-old son Matthew who died by suicide in 2013. She serves on the board of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is the author of several books, including Sacred Privilege: Your Life and Ministry as a Pastor's Wife and Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn't Enough.
