Trump hears a lesson in humility at church
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Donald Trump is not usually a candidate who invokes the words of evangelical voters. But on Sunday, he went to church in eastern Iowa, where he studied “humility,” he later told attendees at a rally.
Trump sat for the entire service, which lasted over an hour, at First Presbyterian Church here, accompanied by Deborah Whitaker, whose son was killed in an accident shortly after returning from a tour of duty.
From the front of the church, the pastor acknowledged the presence of Trump, who sat in the fifth pew, with Whitaker to his right, sharing a book of prayer.
When the collection plate was passed, Trump tossed in money; two crisp $50 bills peeked out from under a handful of singles minutes later.
He listened to a children’s chorus and shook hands with people sitting behind him when it came time to offer greetings to others. Two of his security guards sat behind him, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, sat in the pew in front of him.
Trump, who sometimes reminds people of his Presbyterian faith, has nonetheless generally avoided speaking the language of the more-religious voters in the Iowa caucuses. But at a rally on Sunday, he mentioned attending church.
“We talked about humility in church today,” Trump told the crowd. “I don’t know if that was aimed at me, perhaps,” he joked, drawing laughs.
Trump was last seen going to church on New Year’s Eve in Florida.
Backstage, he told a handful of reporters that he enjoyed the service.
“I have more humility than people think,” he said.
Protesters ejected at rally
Two protesters, one wearing a red turban, were ejected from a Donald Trump rally Sunday in Muscatine, Iowa. The protesters were seated in the balcony of a high school auditorium and had unfurled a banner that read “STOP HATE” at the rally.
Trump had been talking about the dangers of radical Islamic terrorism when the disruption occurred. The Republican presidential candidate then asked the audience, “He wasn’t wearing one of those hats, was he? Was he wearing one of those things?”
It was unclear whether Trump was referring to the protester wearing a turban. The candidate’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats are a similar shade of red.
A silent protester wearing a Muslim head scarf was escorted out of a Trump rally in South Carolina earlier this month.