Flint, Michigan (CNN)The
pastor who hosted Donald Trump at her church in Flint, Michigan,
interrupted the Republican presidential nominee during his speech
Wednesday to ask him to refrain from attacking his rival Hillary
Clinton.
"Mr. Trump, I invited
you here to thank us for what we've done in Flint, not give a political
speech," Rev. Faith Green Timmons of the Bethel United Methodist Church
told Trump after walking to the podium while Trump was speaking.
"OK. That's good. Then I'm going back onto Flint, OK? Flint's pain is a result of so many different failures," Trump said.
Timmons, in a statement provided at the event, noted her church welcomes "all people."
"This
public event is open to all and today Donald Trump came to observe.
Trump's presence at Bethel United Methodist in no way represents an
endorsement of his candidacy," she had said.
Moments
before Timmons interrupted him, Trump had begun attacking Clinton for
supporting free trade agreements, which Trump argued had caused Flint
economic pain.
"Hillary failed on
the economy. Just like she's failed on foreign policy. Everything she
touched didn't work out. Nothing. Now Hillary Clinton --," Trump said
before he was cut off by the church's pastor.
The
awkward moment was just one of several uncomfortable ones during
Trump's visit to the majority African-American city of Flint on
Wednesday, which marked Trump's latest effort to appeal to black voters.
Trump was also heckled during his visit to the church. His visit to
Flint came less than two weeks after he attended a church service at a
predominantly African-American church in Detroit, where about 200
protesters gathered outside.
One
woman heckling Trump Wednesday interrupted him to raise allegations that
he "discriminated against black tenants," an apparent reference to the
Justice Department's 1973 civil rights lawsuit against Trump and his
father's landlord practices in New York City.
"No, I never -- never would never would," Trump said before the church's pastor stepped in to defend Trump.
"This is my church and you will respect him," Timmons said.
Another heckler accused Trump of having called black people "lazy."
Trump
made his first visit to Flint on Wednesday, home to a water crisis that
contaminated the city's water supply, rendering it toxic.
Trump
also visited the city's water plant, but in his remarks at the church,
he focused on the decline of US manufacturing and outsourcing that he
claims has hurt Flint's economy.
The
real estate mogul's visit to Flint is the most attention Trump has
devoted to the city whose water crisis rose to national prominence
earlier this year.
Throughout most
of his campaign, Trump has rarely addressed the crisis or offered his
views, including whether Rick Snyder, the state's Republican governor,
should resign amid mounting pressure.
When
he was asked in January as the crisis gained national media attention
about the situation, Trump said he "shouldn't be commenting."
"Well
it's a shame what's happening in Flint, Michigan. A thing like that
shouldn't happen, but again I don't want to comment on that. They've got
a very difficult problem," Trump had said.
And
in an interview with a local Michigan TV station on the morning of the
state's primary, Trump called it a "catastrophic event," but declined to
say whether he believed Snyder should resign.
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