By Ginni Thomas, DCNF

Bishop Leon Benjamin, a former Democrat, Gulf War veteran and black pastor from Richmond, has a post-election message for the anti-Trump rioters: “It’s time to unify, America!”

Benjamin served as a Donald Trump surrogate with courage and conviction and says in this exclusive video interview for The Daily Caller News Foundation that Americans have spoken at the polls.

Responding to a video of a white man beaten by black thugs, he says that as a black man himself, it hurts to see any of his own people, with a rich history of peaceful protest, behave in this way.

The “most important thing” about Trump, to Bishop Benjamin, is the billionaire’s rejection of identify politics, which divide Americans into groups rather than unite us as one people with different characteristics or background.

As for the manufactured protests that have broken out across the nation after the election, Benjamin says these are driven by “an agenda to keep division going.” The roots of this contrary ideology are filled with hatred, violence and anger.

It was gratifying to discover that after Tuesday’s election Trump received more black votes than Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney when they ran for president as Republicans. To Bishop Benjamin, black Americans are more frequently leaving behind progressive ideology. He believes the Trump agenda of safety, education and jobs in the inner cities resonate with many American black voters tiring of the crime, culture and lack of jobs.

The manipulation of American opinion is most evident to this pastor at the nation’s colleges, where liberal elites promote a misguided understanding of America’s exceptionalism. Packaged in intolerance and emotional fears, many students are paralyzed with a manufactured fear-mongering that rejects facts and logic in favor of nearly programmed responses and intolerant emotions.

Benjamin received threats and hard reactions from those who disagreed with his support of Trump, but he persevered with others who were standing in the gap, believing God was anointing Trump for a stronger, better America.

Reacting to the comments by an avowed communist, Van Jones, who called the election “whitelash,” Benjamin condemns communism as a failed premise. Countries ruled by communism “end in catastrophe, with a small elite in control,” he says.

Benjamin ends with his own message to blacks across the country on why he appreciates being an American.

For more information on Bishop Leon Benjamin, go to New Life Harvest Church where he is a pastor. Follow him on Facebook and his prayer page for Donald Trump. Benjamin was an unsuccessful candidate for the Richmond City Council on Nov. 8 himself.

Mrs. Thomas does not necessarily support or endorse the products, services or positions promoted in any advertisement contained herein, and does not have control over or receive compensation from any advertiser.

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