AR reports on ML comparing DT and CM.

Date
Oct 28, 2020
Type
News (traditional)
Source
Alyssa Roberts
Hearsay
Journalism
Reference

Alyssa Roberts, “Mike Lee Compares Donald Trump to Latter-Day Saint Hero Captain Moroni,” KUTV, October 29, 2020

Scribe/Publisher
KUTV
People
Alyssa Roberts, KUTV
Audience
Reading Public
Transcription

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — At a Latter-day Saints for Trump rally in Arizona on Wednesday night, Utah Sen. Mike Lee compared the president to a hero from Latter-day Saint scripture.

Lee rallied the crowd in Arizona with callouts to Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, and Mormons, comparing President Donald Trump to Captain Moroni.

"To my Mormon friends, my Latter-day Saint friends, think of him as Captain Moroni," the senator exclaimed.

Moroni, in LDS scripture, was "a righteous Nephite military commander who lived about 100 B.C." who was "angry with the government, because of their indifference concerning the freedom of their country."

Lee said of Trump:

He seeks not power, but to pull it down. He seeks not the praise of the world or the fake news, but he seeks the wellbeing and the peace of the American people."

Lee's comparison was met with some negative reaction on Twitter Wednesday night, though more than 100 people liked the video shared by 2News anchor Heidi Hatch.

"Can we sink any lower? As a Mormon I'm so embarrassed," one Twitter user wrote.

The group Latter-day Saints for Biden-Harris accused Latter-day Saints for Trump of exploiting the LDS faith, in response to Lee's comparison.

"The good news is that many Latter-day Saints, including Jeff Flake, Tom Udall, Evan McMullin, and the 1,600 Latter-day Saints who have publicly endorsed Joe Biden, know that it’s time for a change," the group wrote. "That our great country deserves a leader who cares for us, who will fight for our families, who will honor the sacred trust of the presidency, who will do his best every day to be honest, wise, and good."

Across the nation, active Mormons are some of the president’s most loyal supporters among the various religious groups, UtahPolicy.Com reports.

In Utah, half of all active Mormon women approve of the president, and 65 percent of active LDS men approve of the job Trump is doing as president, a Y2 Analytics survey found in June.

BHR Staff Commentary

Citations in Mormonr Qnas
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