The headlines on Thursday were dominated by former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but around the same moment Comey proclaimed that President Donald Trump is a liar, Trump was invoking the Bible.
READ: Renowned Harvard Professor Shocks CNN With Proclamation About Trump and Comey
The commander-in-chief was simultaneously speaking right down the road from the U.S. Capitol, delivering an address before the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority Conference” at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
It was there that Trump encouraged the 1,500 people in audience to essentially embrace truth and do what is right.
“But we will not back down from doing what is right,” Trump said. “Because as the Bible tells us, we know that the truth will prevail. That God’s glorious wisdom will shine through and that the good and decent people of this country will get the change they voted for and they so richly deserve.”
CBN News reported that Trump received numerous standing ovations during his speech before the evangelical audience, as he pledged to defend religious liberty — an issue he has discussed and championed numerous times in the past.
Watch Trump’s address below:
He also said that religious conservatives’ values are “under siege” and that the time has come to stop attacks on faith in the U.S., according to the Christian Post.
“As long as I’m president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith,” Trump proclaimed. “We will always support our evangelical community and defend your right and to live by the teaching of their faith.”
This is the first time that a sitting president has spoken at the conference.
The irony, of course, is that around the same time that Trump was heralding the importance of truth, Comey was sitting before senators, accusing Trump and his administration of lying about the reason for his firing.
“Although the law required no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader,” Comey said. “Those were lies, plain and simple. And I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them, and I’m so sorry that the American people were told them.”
Comey also said that he documented his discussions with Trump over concerns that the president “might lie about the nature of our meeting.” Perhaps most interesting was the fact that Trump made no mention of Comey’s testimony during his remarks, as New York Magazine noted.
Read more about the Comey hearing and watch it below: