By Andre Jones
Pastor A.R. Bernard, leader of one of New York City’s biggest churches has resigned as an evangelical advisor to President Donald Trump due to a “deepening conflict of values.”
Bernard, one of the latest leaders to abandon the Trump camp, issued a statement Friday via Twitter, “…it became obvious that there was a deepening conflict in values between myself and the administration.”
The statement was released on the same day that Trump was thoroughly criticized for his equivocal comments regarding the recent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that turned deadly for Antifa protestor Heather Heyer, as the rally descended into dozens of violent clashes, some of which were captured on smartphone video as well as being covered live by major news networks.
The leader of the 37,000-member East New York, Brooklyn church explained his initial involvement with the Trump administration to Don Lemon in an exclusive CNN interview yesterday, “I accepted the fact that the American public, by their vote, spoke and put a particular individual in office with all of the flaws, with all of the character issues,” Bernard explained. “I was not there to judge that; I was there to see if there was an opportunity to affect change…I said, ‘well, wait a minute – what’s going to happen to our community? What kind of initiatives will move forward – if any – if there’s no one at the table?’”
While industry leaders and advisors mutiny from Trump advisory councils en masse in the wake of Trump’s address concerning the tragic results of demonstrations in Charlottesville, Bernard revealed in his tweeted message that he had long ago abandoned his commitment, “I quietly stepped away from my involvement with the Board several months ago, and submitted my letter of formal resignation as of Tues, Aug. 15. 2017. I am always grateful and honored by any opportunity to serve my country.”
Indeed, Bernard who has served as spiritual advisor to Denzel and Pauletta Washington and Alonzo Mourning – who used to charter a plane from Florida to attend his services - had already begun distancing himself from Trump by stepping away from his role on Trump’s campaign advisory council telling New York Times last year that he felt like his role was more “window dressing” than advising, “If I’m going to advise you, it’s because I’m going to really, genuinely advise you… when I found out that no matter what we were saying, he continued the same path, I said: ‘You know what? I need to step back and remain neutral.’”
It looks like, Bernard – and many, many others – are simply done with Donald Trump.
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