Donald Trump holding a bible.
REUTERS/Brian C. Frank
Even Trump’s onetime spiritual adviser is ditching him, after he announced his 2024 presidential bid.
Megachurch pastor James Robison said on Wednesday Trump acts like an elementary schooler.
“If Mr. Trump can’t stop his little petty issues, how does he expect people to stop major issues?” Robison said.
It isn’t just GOP megadonors who are turning their backs on former President Donald Trump. Even Trump’s one-time spiritual adviser has publicly slammed him, calling him childish, a day after he announced his 2024 presidential run.
James Robison, president of Life Outreach International and a televangelist closely linked to Trump, slammed Trump during a meeting of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) on Wednesday, per The Washington Post.
Robison said that in the past, Trump would hear but not always heed his advice over the five years when they conversed regularly on the phone. Robison also recalled how he would lecture Trump over the phone, per The Post.
“Sir, you act like a little elementary schoolchild and you shoot yourself in the foot every morning you get up and open your mouth. The more you keep your mouth closed, the more successful you’re gonna be,” Robison said, relaying what he told Trump during one of their conversations.
Speaking to the NACL on Wednesday, Robison said it was time for conservatives to “get together and pray and stop trying to destroy each other.”
“We’ve got to quit amputating each other, slicing each other, and come together in supernatural unity that Jesus Christ prayed for,” he said.
“If Mr. Trump can’t stop his little petty issues, how does he expect people to stop major issues?” Robison added.
Longtime allies dash Trump’s 2024 dreams
This week, a slate of Trump allies have either broken with him or held back from fully endorsing the former president. This was after Trump announced his 2024 presidential bid on Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, pledging to make America “great” and “glorious” again. Robison did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on whether he would endorse Trump’s 2024 bid.
Robert Jeffress, an evangelical pastor and longtime Trump supporter, told Newsweek that he would hold back on his endorsement of Trump until he wins the GOP nomination.
“The Republican Party is headed toward a civil war that I have no desire or need to be part of,” Jeffress said.
Meanwhile, Trump has seen a slew of financial backers leave his camp in the last week.
GOP mega-donor Ken Griffin this week also said that he would not be backing Trump, who he called a “three-time loser.” Griffin instead threw his support behind Trump’s would-be rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Blackstone CEO and chairman Stephen Schwarzman, also a GOP mega-donor, told Axios on Wednesday he would support a candidate who is not Trump. Schwartzman previously donated $3 million to Trump’s America First Action super PAC, which fueled his 2020 campaign, per CNBC.
“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman told Axios. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries.”
Andy Sabin, a New York-based businessman and prominent Trump donor, also declared this week that he won’t be giving Trump “a fucking nickel.” Sabin gave Trump $120,000 in 2020, per CNBC, but now blames the former president for the GOP’s bad midterms performance.
A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.