SUBSCRIBE NOW

SIGHT

Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

Updated: Virus loans helped entities tied to Trump evangelical allies

Updated: 11am, 8th July, 2020 AEST
New York City, US

AP

Churches connected to President Donald Trump and other organisations linked to current or former Trump evangelical advisers received at least $US17.3 million in loans from a federal rescue package designed to aid small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Those receiving loans include City of Destiny, the Florida church that Trump’s personal pastor and White House faith adviser Paula White-Cain calls home, and First Baptist Dallas, led by Trump ally and senior pastor Robert Jeffress. City of Destiny got between $US150,000 and $US350,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and First Baptist Dallas got between $US2 million and $US5 million, according to data released by the Treasury Department on Monday.

Mike Pence and Dr Robert Jeffress

Vice President Mike Pence, left, greets Senior Pastor Dr Robert Jeffress, right, after Pence spoke at the Southern Baptist megachurch First Baptist Dallas during a Celebrate Freedom Rally in Dallas, Sunday, 28th June, 2020. PICTJURE: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez.

Loan recipients included several churches and organizations connected to allies who joined Trump’s evangelical advisory board during his 2016 campaign, helping a twice-divorced candidate win over a socially conservative constituency that has proven an essential part of his political base. 

Payments received by churches and other organisations linked to Trump’s evangelical allies represent a small fraction of the total aid the program gave to religious entities, which were allowed to access pandemic assistance loans even if they performed only faith-based functions. 

Jeffress noted that in establishing the relief program, the Trump administration as well as Congress not only allowed houses of worship to take part but “encouraged” applications for aid out of an understanding “that houses of worship are not only ministries, but they’re employers”.

The number of loan recipients connected to religious supporters of the President, however, illustrates the potential pitfalls for churches and other faith-based groups that opted to pursue the financial aid amid questions about blurring the line between church and state. 

Government data shows Jeffress’ church reported retaining 293 jobs with its loan, while Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, received a loan of between $US2 million and $US5 million. That school is associated with Prestonwood Baptist Church, where senior pastor Jack Graham is a longtime Trump backer who wrote an op-ed lauding the President’s anti-abortion credentials in January.

Graham, whose megachurch claims more than 42,000 members, is not related to Trump evangelical adviser Franklin Graham, son of the late Rev Billy Graham.

John Klingstedt, interim head of school at Prestonwood, said in a statement that the church “chose not to apply to the program, but Prestonwood Christian Academy did, as many schools like ours have.”

“We are grateful that nearly all our elected officials, Democrat and Republican, agreed that not-for-profit institutions, especially educational institutions, should be eligible,” Klingstedt said.

The government data release showed the school reporting zero jobs retained with the loan, but a spokesman said that the accurate figure would be 401 jobs, reflecting the full number of positions at the school, which operates on fees and donations.

Other program beneficiaries connected to veteran evangelical Trump allies include The Faith & Freedom Coalition, founded by conservative strategist Ralph Reed, which got a loan of between $US150,000 and $US350,000. That group reported retaining 24 jobs with its loan, according to government data.

The PPP helps smaller businesses stay open and keep Americans employed amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under the program, the government is backing $US659 billion in low-interest business loans that will be forgiven if employers use the money on payroll, rent and similar expenses. Companies typically must have fewer than 500 workers to qualify.

About $US130 billion was unclaimed as the application deadline closed 30th June. With money still available, Congress voted to extend the program just as it was expiring, setting a new date of 8th August. 

The public may never know the identity of more than 80 per cent of the nearly five million beneficiaries to date because the administration has refused to release details on loans under $US150,000 – which accounts for the vast majority of borrowers. That secrecy spurred an open-records lawsuit by a group of news organisations, including The Associated Press.

Still, the release of the data is the most complete look at the program’s recipients so far.

The Federal Government disclosed the dollar figures in ranges rather than specific amounts. That means the $US17.3 million figure for the loans to Trump-connected churches and other organisations is a minimum, with the real number somewhere between there and $US42.3 million. 

The AP’s analysis of the data examined organisations tied to members of the President’s 2016 evangelical advisory board, in addition to those linked to pastors who have publicly supported the president as he pushes to mobilise religious conservative voters.

King Jesus International Ministry, the Miami megachurch where Trump launched his evangelical outreach push ahead of November’s election, received a loan of between $US2 million and $US5 million according to the data. That church’s pastor, Guillermo Maldonado, was also among a group of faith leaders who met and prayed with Trump at the White House last fall.

 

Donate



sight plus logo

Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.

Musings

TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!

We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).

To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.