BAPTISM BY FIRE — Aside from his literally giant looming presence on Monday as he beamed into a meeting here in Indianapolis via two large TV screens for less than two minutes, Donald Trump was largely missing from the annual gathering of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest and most politically powerful Protestant denomination. This was no MAGA fest: There were no MAGA caps or Trump signs in sight, and mentions of the likely Republican nominee were scarce. When he spoke Monday to a room of a hundred people, only a handful pulled out their smartphones to record. The scene served as a reminder that, despite his widespread popularity among evangelicals and other conservative Christians, many church leaders remain skeptical of the worldly embrace and veneration of Trump and MAGA politics — even if it delivered the downfall of Roe v. Wade. Trump’s presence at the periphery of the proceedings wasn’t necessarily a departure from form. The confab is designed primarily for 11,000 so-called messengers — think of them as delegates hailing from individual churches — to weigh in on resolutions like whether to oppose in vitro fertilization (which they did earlier today) or whether to fellowship with member denominations that allow women to be pastors (which they rejected narrowly) and to elect an SBC president. It’s not designed for politicking, though Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan have all spoken to Southern Baptists at their various functions in their past. Albert Mohler, a prominent evangelical theologian and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Nightly that Trump hasn’t been clear enough on his abortion stance. “I think President Trump needs to say that he is as pro-life as he was in 2016 and that he will defend the unborn and work with the pro-life movement to help affect a meaningful defense of unborn life and of life at every stage. I think he must make that clear.” It also tells us that the abortion and access to contraception wars are far from over. “We’re about to find out how pro-life the pro-life movement is,” Mohler said. Trump did not mention the word “abortion” at all in his brief, pre-taped video address , instead hewing close to his brand of partisan grievance politics. “You just can’t vote Democrat. They’re against religion. They’re against your religion in particular,” he said, though Democrats like Carter, Bill Clinton and even Al Gore at one point all considered themselves Baptist. Trump only received a polite smattering of applause for his remarks. The biggest star of the convention was — surprise — former Vice President Mike Pence, who has been attacked by Trump after rejecting the then-president’s pressure to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election. Unlike Trump, Pence touted the administration’s appointment of three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped “send Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history,” Pence said. He won three standing ovations, and stood in a reception line for almost half an hour after speaking, signing autographs and posing for selfies. “Pence is a lifelong pro-lifer,” said Daniel Darling, a Southern Baptist and a former spokesman for the National Religious Broadcasters “He’s a movement conservative. He got into politics, in part because of that issue. And I think that’s part of how he sees his continuing role and voice is to continue to champion that issue and make sure that Republicans don’t sort of cast that aside.” Even former presidential candidate and current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis received more namechecks from the stage and in the hallways than Trump, mostly because of his firm positions in the culture wars and particularly on abortion. “I don’t like [Trump] personally,” said Joanne Sharp, of the First Baptist Church of Marion, Illinois. “It’s personality. He can’t keep his mouth shut. But I think he was a decent president aside from not being able to keep his mouth shut.” Pence, however, continues to talk about an issue that remains essential for the SBC: “I honestly think we haven’t come to the end of the debate over life: We’ve come to the end of the beginning.” Megan Messerly contributed to this report. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at awren@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @adamwren .
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