Trump pledges to prevent ‘unacceptable’ repression of school prayer

President Donald Trump, surrounded by schoolchildren of a variety of faiths, has announced what he called “historic steps to protect the First Amendment right to pray in the public schools.”

Within hours of senators being sworn in for Trump’s pending impeachment trial, the president and nine federal agencies on January 16 made moves they said would support the rights of religious people, including students who report their freedom to pray has been violated.

“In public schools around the country, authorities are stopping students and teachers from praying, sharing their faith or following their religious beliefs,” said Trump, sitting behind the Resolute desk of the Oval Office in an event carried online via C-SPAN. “It is totally unacceptable. You see it on the football field. You see it so many times where they’re stopped from praying, and we are doing something to stop that.”