Mediaboss Marketing

President Trump says evangelical Christians thank him more for moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem than Jewish people. Buzz60

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, smiles along with Vice President Mike Pence, as President Donald Trump speaks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: OTKAB(Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON Weighing in on President Donald Trump's warning that there will be violence by his opponents if Democrats win control of Congress this fall, Vice President Mike Pence said he took the president to mean that Democrats want to undo everything Trump has done.

"But the presidents point as I took it, from where I was seated, was that the Democrat party in Congress is absolutely committed to reversing everything that weve been able to do for the American people," Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Networkin an interview excerptthat aired Thursday.

On Monday, Trump and Pence feted dozens of Christian pastors,ministers and other supporters from the evangelical communityat a White House dinner.

Trump warned thatDemocrats will overturn everything that weve done and theyll do it quickly and violently, accordingto an audiotape of his remarks provided to The New York Timesby someone who attended the event.

Asked by reporters Wednesday what he meant by the comments, Trump said, "I just hope there won't be violence."

"There's a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country, and I don't want to see it," he said.

In his remarks to evangelicals, Trump mentionedantifa, the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaninganti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis.

"When youlook at antifa, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people," Trump said, according to the Times.

Asked by CBN News why Trump mentioned antifa, Pence said: "Obviously we condemn any examples of violence on the streets of this country, zero tolerance for any violence against Americans."

Pence said the reason why evangelical leaders were invited to the dinner was to make sure that the American people know that Democrats want to reverse Trump's agenda, including his appointment of "strong conservatives" to the federal courts.

"Thats the choice we face," he said. "Thats what I took the president to say."

Trump's 2016 victory was boosted by white evangelicals, 81 percent of whom voted for him. Thats a greater share than the support garnered byGeorge W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012.

And evangelical leaders say Trump has delivered on promises to promote "religious freedoms," restrict abortions, appoint conservative judgesand recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

More: First year of Trump-Pence brings bountiful blessings, religious conservatives say

More: Mike Pence, 'Christian supremacist': 6 key takeaways from a new book

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2N5twF2

Read more:
Mike Pence: Here's what Trump meant about violence if ...