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Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders are cautiously optimistic heading into the new year with a second Trump administration.
This week, Fox News Digital spoke with leaders of various faith communities, many of whom expressed hope that the incoming administration will lead in the right direction, but are wary that President-elect Trump has yet to prove himself.
“There are some (Jewish) communities that feel positive and optimistic, and there are some communities that feel extremely worried,” said New York Rabbi Jo David, who has a private rabbinical practice.
President-elect Trump and a rosary (AP Photo/Evan Vucci/BrianAJackson via iStock)
“I think there’s a mixed reaction, but there’s skeptical optimism,” said Haris Tarin, vice president of policy and programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
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Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor of 180 Church in Detroit, said Trump has a chance become “the greatest president in history” if he plays his cards right. “All he has to do is properly regulate (the right) resources.”
Samuel Rodríguez is senior pastor of New Season, a prominent megachurch in the United States, and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. He echoed the sense of hope some religious leaders feel as they look toward Inauguration Day.
A mother and little girl fold their hands in prayer over a Bible together. (iStock)
“I think we’re going to see a stronger emphasis on protection religious freedom and ensure that faith communities are empowered to thrive,” Rodriguez said. “Policies that respect the role of faith-based organizations in society, whether they’re feeding the hungry or educating children. or defending life — It will probably take center stage. I also anticipate an administration that values the contributions of people of faith, not as something to be tolerated, but as an essential cornerstone of our nation.”
Regarding the jewish community, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, former chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and director of Global Social Action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said anti-Semitism, especially on social media and on college campuses, and “the ’embracing the Hamas narrative’ are a top priority.
A sign at the anti-Israel camp at the University of Chicago includes slogans such as “Break down the doors, globalize the intifada” and “We will honor all our martyrs.” (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
“We hope and expect a completely different approach from the incoming administration,” Cooper said. “We hope that the billions and billions in sanctions relief that President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have given to the terrorist-sponsoring regime in Iran will end.”
Cooper also said build and move forward covenants of abraham, a series of bilateral agreements on Arab-Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, will be important.
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For Tarin, the greatest hope among the Muslim community, he says, is that there is no repeat of Trump’s 2020 order that prevented people from certain Muslim countries to come to the US
“No. 2, the hope is that all Americans, including Muslim Americans, their civil rights and civil liberties and the issues they’ve stood for are protected. No. 3, the hope is a halt to fire and an end to the conflict in the Middle East and specifically in Gaza,” said Tarin.
He added that it would be beneficial for Trump to embrace parts of the Biden administration’s national strategy on Islamophobia.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment, but did not hear back.
