One News Now | Minister honored to participate in inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump is finalizing an inauguration ceremony that will include at least one notable evangelical voice.

“An honor indeed, beyond my wildest dreams,” Rev. Samuel Rodriguez says of his planned participation in the January 20 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.

Rodriguez, 47, tells OneNewsNow he knows his role in the event but can’t divulge it to the public, at least not yet. It will be either reading scripture or praying, he says.

Rodriguez may be known to ONN readers as president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. It was in that role that he joined other evangelical advisors who counseled Trump during the presidential campaign.

Rodriguez told ONN in October, after the final presidential debate, that Trump was connecting with Hispanics with his pro-life views about abortion and his toned-down rhetoric about immigration and border security.

Born to Puerto Rican parents, Rodriguez has spoken at the White House, Princeton, Yale, and at Promise Keepers and Liberty University.

He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God and pastors a California church in Sacramento.

Whether in a prayer or Bible reading, Rodriguez says he wants to convey “an affirmation of life in and out of the womb,” encouraging anyone listening that all are born with the image of God.

Referring to Trump’s presidency, Rodriguez cautiously predicts it will be open to the views of the evangelical community.

“Maybe than even previous presidents in the past 20, 25 years,” he says.

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