Romney: Pastor Giving Prayer at U.S. Embassy Opening Is a ‘Bigot’

Pastor Robert Jeffress, who is set to lead a prayer at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, was called a religious bigot by former presidential candidate and current Utah Senate candidate Mitt Romney. “Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.’ He’s said the same about Islam,” Romney wrote on Twitter Sunday. “Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.” Jeffress responded, saying “[h]istoric Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone” and that view is not “bigoted nor newsworthy.” Jeffress leads a Texas Baptist church and is a “spiritual adviser to [President] Donald Trump,” according to The Guardian. Previously, he has stated that Jewish people (among others) will go to hell, called Mormonism a “cult,” and said Islam “promotes pedophilia.”