Robert Jeffress
Senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas since 1997. Among the most outspoken evangelical proponents of the view that America is a Christian nation — has said America was founded as a Christian nation, called the common account of church-state separation 'a complete myth,' and that God gives rulers like Trump authority to 'stop evil.' One of Trump's earliest and most consistent clerical supporters.
View in the interactive map →Robert Jeffress (b. 1955) became senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas — one of the oldest, largest, and historically most influential Baptist congregations in the United States — in 1997. Under his leadership, First Baptist built a new $135 million campus (opened 2013) and expanded its media presence, including a national television program and radio broadcasts. Jeffress has been one of the most explicit articulators of Christian nationalism in the evangelical establishment: 1. Church-state separation: Jeffress has repeatedly stated that the separation of church and state is a 'myth,' that the founders intended America to be a Christian nation governed by Christian principles, and that Christians have both the right and the obligation to govern the nation by biblical standards. 2. Anti-LGBTQ positions: Jeffress has called homosexuality 'a perversion,' has stated that AIDS was 'the ultimate result' of homosexual behavior, and has been one of the most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage in the evangelical establishment. 3. Anti-Mormon and anti-Catholic statements: In 2011, introducing Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit, Jeffress described Mormonism as a 'cult' and Mitt Romney's faith as disqualifying. He has also made derogatory statements about Catholicism. 4. Trump relationship: Jeffress was among the earliest prominent evangelical leaders to support Trump (2015) and has been a consistent public defender. He delivered the invocation at the opening ceremonies when the U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem in 2018, and he has preached at White House church services during Trump's first term. In 2017 he cited Romans 13 (on government's authority to use force) to argue that God had given Trump authority to 'take out' Kim Jong Un. 5. Explicit Christian nationalist statements: In August 2017 he said that 'God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil.' Jeffress voices ideas once associated with the movement's fringe from within the mainstream Southern Baptist establishment and major Republican political circles; he has rejected the 'Christian nationalist' label. His First Baptist Dallas platform, Fox News presence, and White House access made him one of the most visible articulators of the merger of evangelical faith and Trumpist politics.
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Connections from Robert Jeffress
- influenced → Trump Evangelical Advisory Board (2016) (2016) — Robert Jeffress was among the earliest (he blessed Trump's Dallas rally in September 2015) and most consistent evangelical clerical supporters of Trump, and was a core member of the Trump Evangelical Advisory Board formed in June 2016. His First Baptist Dallas platform, Fox News appearances, and willingness to articulate explicit Christian nationalist rationales for Trump support (in 2017: 'God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil') made him one of the most visible clerical voices for the merger of evangelical identity and Trumpist politics.
- influenced → 2016 Election: The Machine Delivers (2016) — Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, was among the earliest high-profile evangelical endorsers of Trump, giving the candidacy credibility with Southern Baptist and megachurch audiences at a moment when many evangelical leaders still hesitated. Jeffress said he wanted 'the meanest, toughest, son-of-a-you-know-what' in the Oval Office, adding that he was 'not going to choose Donald Trump to be my child's third grade Sunday school teacher, but that's not what this election is about' — a formulation that encapsulated the transactional theology that would define evangelical support for Trump. His platform of 12,000 members and prominent media presence made his endorsement a signal to the broader evangelical leadership class.
Sources
- Jeffress says he's not a Christian nationalist, but America was founded as a Christian nation — Baptist News Global (2022)
- Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation — Kristin Kobes Du Mez (2020), pp. 260–280
- Robert Jeffress: Pastor to the President — Texas Monthly (2017)
- The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism — Katherine Stewart (2020), pp. 25–50