Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Evangelical leaders are “very concerned” about a Trump lawyer’s payout to porn actress Stormy Daniels to cover up the president’s alleged extramarital affair and have organized a “sit-down” with him in June, NPR reported. Sources involved with the planning said the leaders are concerned about how the “sex-scandal allegations and Trump's continued reputation for divisive rhetoric” could affect voter turnout in the 2018 midterm elections. One source claimed that the leaders were worried about the fate of religious liberty, abortion, and Israel policy in the midterms and do not want to jeopardize those issues. In the day-long June meeting, sources said that the Stormy Daniels scandal would most likely be brought up to the president in a private, “sidebar conversation.” This comes as the president publicly commented on the Daniels payout for the first time on Thursday, tersely saying he was not aware of his personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels day before the 2016 election.