The first evangelical Latino reverend to participate in a U.S. inauguration, Samuel Rodriguez, looked past Donald Trump's racist, homophobic and anti-immigrant rhetoric, as a leading right-wing voice himself.
Rodriguez, president of the 40,000-strong National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, leads a group of right-wing evangelicals who often speak out against gay marriage and “traditional culture war issues.” About two-thirds of Latinos who voted for Trump are evangelical Christians.
The pastor of Puerto Rican descent considers his immigration stance moderate, but said he supports building the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border “to put an end to illegal immigration without prejudice to families that are already here.”
When chosen to speak at inauguration in December, Rodriguez told La Opinion, “I consulted with my wife and kids, and we came to the conclusion that it would be a blessing and an honor to participate in a ceremony of such importance.”
He chose the passage, which speaks of the blessed poor, and said he hopes Trump—who he said has undergone “a very nice, very positive change”—speaks of unity in his address.
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Rodriguez has said that he is neither Republican nor Democrat, but his public opinions often align with Republican views. He has spoken out against progressive taxation, abortion and “uber-entitlements,” according to Right Wing Watch. He served on Marco Rubio’s nearly-exclusively Christian “Religious Liberty Advisory Board” to defend from “un-American and morally wrong” assaults on their faith.
In his crusade that Right Wing Watch calls a “civility campaign,” Rodriguez has partnered with fringe groups who are anti-Muslim and anti-gay. He has also supported Cindy Jacobs, a self-proclaimed modern-day prophet who once attributed a series of bird deaths to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Rodriguez also wants to extend his extreme views to Latin America. When asked about same-sex marriage in Latin America, Rodriguez said, “If the question is whether or not we are going to be as active on the social political front in Latin America as we are in America, the answer is yes, again, not in the spirit of political advocacy, but in the spirit of prophetic activism.”