No, Donald Trump didn’t say this about Christian values and freedom

A pensive-looking President Donald Trump appears with his eyes cast downward in a recent Facebook post that attributes this statement to the president: 

"Make no mistake," the Oct. 17 post begins, "they’re not after me. They are after you; your guns, your Christian values, your freedom. I’m just in their way." 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

Searching for the quote online, we found several posts on meme websites but no credible sources connecting Trump to the statement. 

We also didn’t find any coverage of Trump making such a statement in the Nexis news archive. 

Certainly, Trump has accused liberals for attacking Christian values. 

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Instagram posts

stated on November 24, 2024 in an Instagram post

“Rachel Maddow MELTS DOWN over Elon Musk posting memes about buying MSNBC.”

"In recent years, the hard left has tried to muzzle Christian voices in their aggressive attack on free speech," he said during an address at the Values Voter Summit on Oct. 12. 

In the same speech, he also said: 

"On every front, the ultra-left is waging war on the values shared by everyone in this room. They are trying to silence and punish the speech of Christians and religious believers of all faiths."

And: 

"The grave danger posed to historic Christian communities is incredible." 

What he didn’t say is what appears in the Facebook post. 

If evidence surfaces that Trump did make this statement, we’ll reconsider our rating. Until then, we rate it False.