During a campaign stop in Greenville, South Carolina, on Thursday last week, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said, "I am Presbyterian Protestant. I go to Marble Collegiate Church."
However, the church located in Manhattan, New York City, sent a statement to CNN, saying, "Donald Trump has had a longstanding history with Marble Collegiate Church, where his parents were for years active members and one of his children was baptised. However, as he indicates, he is a Presbyterian, and is not an active member of Marble."
Trump said he attends church "as often as I can, a lot" and attends different churches because of
his travels. "At some point I'm going to be meeting with ministers and pastors," he said Thursday.
In a rally in Michigan earlier this month, Trump announced that the Bible was his favourite book, with his book "The Art of the Deal" coming second.
"It's my second favourite book of all time," said Trump. "Do you know what my first is? The Bible! Nothing beats the Bible."
Donaild Trump on further interrogations, could not name his favourite verse from the Holy Bible, which he has described as his favourite book. He said he would not do so because his favourite verses are "very personal" to him.
He found support in former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who said the question Trump was asked was a "gotcha question". Talking to Trump in an interview on One America News Network, Palin said:
"You get hit with these gotchas, like most conservatives do, for instance 'what's your favourite Bible verse?' And I ask 'Did they ask Hilary [Clinton] that? What does it have to do with running for the office of the presidency? Is it anybody's business? These personal gotcha questions really trying to get you, us, anybody running for office off game,"Trump responded,
"I love the Bible, I'm Protestant, I'm Presbyterian, and they were hitting me with different questions, one after another, and look, I don't know if it's a 'gotcha,' but it probably is.When asked whether he prefers the Old Testament or the New Testament, the billionaire businessman said "probably equal."
It's a very personal thing, I don't like giving that out to people that you hardly know,
The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics," Trump said.
Trump said his original church was the "First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, which is out in Queens. I've just had great experiences at church, whether it is Sunday School or whatever it may be, but now I go to Marble Collegiate Church."
Marble Collegiate Church is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America. As stated in its website (www. Marblechurch.org) the church is the oldest place of worship of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York, having been founded in 1628. It is also considered as the oldest Protestant organisation in North America with continuous service.
Trump is leading in the newest CNN/ORC poll with white evangelical voters.
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