The Detroit pastor who hosted Donald Trump's much ridiculed church roundtable — which was promoted as a reach-out to Black voters but later shown to have a large white turnout — said people laughed in his face when he suggested they attend.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell appeared on MSNBC Sunday night to discuss the "surprising" turnout at the evangelical 180 Church and faced a direct question about the people in the audience.
"Was the audience mostly white?" asked anchor Charles Coleman Jr.
"I was very surprised...about how many black people were actually, physically in the building," Sewell replied.
"I remember walking down Grand River, a place that is desolate on the west side of Detroit, and walking down the street and just inviting people, saying, 'The former president is here if you want to come,'" Sewell said.
"They were laughing like I was when I first was approached."
Critics noted Saturday that while the church has a mainly Black congregation, photos caught by the media showed a lot of white people in the audience.
“It’s all lies, smoke, and mirrors,” wrote Jeff Timmer a Republican and senior adviser at the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, on X.
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Trump also reportedly failed to recognize Sewell even as the pastor sat beside him.
Sewell told Coleman Sunday he has no political affiliation and hosted Trump to bring political leaders into his community.
"I don't worship a donkey or elephant," Sewll said. "I worship the lamb of God slain for the sins of the world and anybody who can come to his house, and be prayed over."
This perspective stood in stark contrast to Coleman's next guest, Dr. Wendell Anthony, a pastor and president of the Detroit Branch NAACP.
"[Trump] didn't articulate any policy, he articulated the fact that he wanted to come and get some Black votes," Anthony said. "We don't need people to stand up on frivolity, we need you to come in and talk about policy...Don't fall for the snake because every time you do, you get bit."
