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I Pray Trump Becomes President, Harlem’s Homophobic Pastor Says

By Gustavo Solis | December 2, 2015 9:26am
 The controversial pastor was one of about 100 that met and endorsed Donald Trump earlier this week.
The controversial pastor was one of about 100 that met and endorsed Donald Trump earlier this week.
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DNAinfo/Jeff Mays

HARLEM — The gay-hating pastor of Harlem's Atlah Worldwide Church is backing Donald Trump's bid to become president.

James David Manning was one of 100 black pastors that met with Trump Monday.

The pastor, who routinely posts messages like “Jesus Would Stone Homos” on a billboard outside his W. 123rd St. church, called Trump "humble, patient, generous but a strong leader” on his daily radio show The Manning Report Tuesday.

“I’m going to have and enjoy a long relationship with Mr. Trump,” he said. “I pray he becomes president.”

Trump brought his bible and photos from his confirmation to the meeting at Trump Tower Monday, according to Manning.

The candidate’s spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about Manning’s views towards the LGBT community or to comment on Manning's support.

Manning spent an hour of his show talking about the meeting with Trump and shared a story of how the two men first met while the pastor was waiting to go through a security checkpoint.

“Trump got off the elevator about two feet from me and said, ‘You don’t have to search him, he’s with me, he’s my supporter,’” Manning said.

Before the Trump segment, Manning used his radio program to talk about a recent protest of local residents against the hateful messages he writes in front of the church.

Manning described the protest as an “attack,” and dismissed the protesters, who included State Assemblyman Keith Wright.

“I was surprised that so few sodomites came out,” he said.