President Donald Trump was "at his best" during a prime-time speech to the nation that made the case for his demands for $5.7 billion to build a wall and secure the border, Jerry Fallwell Jr. told Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
In an interview on "America Talks Live," the president of the conservative Liberty University said Trump's "presidential" style "threw . . . off" his most ardent Democratic critics.
"He was at his best last night," Falwell said. "He's just one of us. Last night, he showed he also could be more like the old-style presidents."
"I think [Democrats] still haven't figured out Donald Trump," he said, and "still think there's some political hay to be made" over the partial government shutdown that was triggered by a stalemate over funding for a border wall.
"People don't care [about the shutdown]," he said. "It's bad for the people not getting paid . . . [but] it's so obvious" why Democrats are refusing to fund a wall.
"They hope that'll hurt [Trump] in 2020," he said. "And it's really funny when they bring religion into this . . . trying to say . . . the border should be open, that Jesus was somehow telling Rome what to do."
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Falwell said, instead, Jesus was only preaching personal kindness and forgiveness, not politics.
"I think evangelicals appreciate what he's doing," Falwell said. "They support him 80 percent when he was campaigning on the wall. . . . I think he'll stick with his promise."
Falwell added he does not believe Trump "can do anything to alienate his base."
"I think he's a different man than he used to be," he said. "I think he's matured, he's not a businessman, TV star anymore . . . he cares about one thing — doing the best for this country."
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