During a meeting with evangelical Christian pastors organized by the American Renewal Project, Donald Trump said that declining church attendance in America is due to “the fact that you have been silenced.”

“You’ve been silenced like a child has been silenced,” he told the crowd, falsely claiming that pastors are not allowed to talk about politics. “Your power has been totally taken away.”

“I mean Christianity, when you think of what’s happening and you look at the numbers, I talk about Sunday School and people don’t even know what I’m talking about anymore, it’s true, they don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Trump said.

“We’re gonna bring it back because it’s a good thing, it’s a good thing,” he continued. “They treat it like it’s a bad thing but it’s a great thing, not a good thing, it’s a great thing.”

Watch the video below, via Right Wing Watch:

Featured image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr)