New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald Trump were both present at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. At the annual event, where bipartisan figures gathered for fellowship, Trump delivered remarks focused on rooting out "anti-Christian bias" and the formation of a task force aimed at investigating alleged targeting and discrimination against Christians, as detailed by PIX11.
At the second of two events surrounding the breakfast, Trump, who has survived two failed assassination attempts last year, cited a religious awakening and called for Americans to "bring God back" into their lives, mentioning in his address that "I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it" and attributing his survival to divine intervention, this on a day where he also brought levity to the event by joking about his hair remaining unaffected in the incidents, while on the opposite side of town, Adams, after sharing stages with Trump, is slated to soon testify before the House Oversight Committee on the contentious issue of New York's sanctuary city status, stressing that immigration is a national concern, as per his earlier confirmation, according to PIX11.
Adding controversy, Adams has come under fire from New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for not being transparent about his medical leave which required full anesthesia, with Williams criticizing the mayor for a lack of communication that he deemed "irresponsible at best and deceptive at worst," as reported by CBS News New York.
The president's announcement of the task force, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has not been without its critics, as Americans United for Separation of Church and State expressed concern that the task force could misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry and undermine civil rights laws, with the organization's president and CEO Rachel Laser saying "rather than protecting religious beliefs, this task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination, and the subversion of our civil rights laws," this in an article where Trump also criticized the Biden administration and touted the rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as covered by PIX11.
The National Prayer Breakfast, with its over 70 years of tradition, this year showed a division with two concurrent gatherings—one attended by lawmakers and another by private figures thanks to a public detachment from the religious group that formerly oversaw the larger private event, these details according to what Trump reflected in his speech, considering the events of the previous year and how it has changed him, as mentioned by PIX11.
