Republican United States Representative Brian Babin thanked God for sending Donald Trump to stop children from being taken “down the path of homosexuality and perversion” at a DC event on 4 February.

A Republican member of Congress, Rep. Brian Babin (R‑TX), drew sharp attention this week when he thanked God in a public prayer for “sending Donald Trump to protect America from homosexuality and perversion.” The remarks came at the Family Research Council’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance event in Washington, D.C., where Babin prayed that Trump’s 2024 election marked a turning point away from what he described as moral decline. He said the U.S. had been moving in a troubling “direction” during President Joe Biden’s term and presented Trump’s leadership as an answer to those concerns.

Babin’s comments invoked deeply religious language and reflect a broader trend among some conservative politicians and activists who view Trump’s political rise as part of a divine mandate or moral mission. His speech framed social issues, especially LGBTQ+ rights, in stark moral terms and linked them to his understanding of national stability and family values. Critics argue that this kind of rhetoric stigmatizes LGBTQ+ people and conflates faith with political ideology, potentially deepening cultural divides.

The remarks have prompted reactions across the political spectrum, with opponents calling them offensive and divisive and supporters defending them as expressions of deeply held convictions about faith and national identity. The event itself was organized by a group classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti‑LGBTQ+ hate group, intensifying criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates and civil rights organizations who see such statements as harmful in public discourse.

Babin, who is a Texas native and the Chair of the House Science Committee, prayed at the Family Research Council’s National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance event at the Museum of the Bible, saying: “Lord, we beseeched thee.

“Our prayers were answered in getting us a new president and taking a different direction in our country than we had seen for the previous four years.”

Babin continued: “Apostasy, blasphemy, taking our children down the path of homosexuality and perversion. Open borders. Criminals running rampant in our streets.

“Lord, we have new leadership, and we thank you for that.

But Lord, we know that government is not going to save our country.

“It’s going to be the American people returning to the path that you have set out for us and our Founding Fathers,” Babin concluded.