Imagine the shock that Bishop Charles H. Ellis III had when members of his congregation asked him why he was speaking at a pro-Donald Trump pastors roundtable.
Much to Bishop Ellis’ surprise, DonaldJTrump.com wrongly publicized him as a speaker for a Detroit Pastors Roundtable discussion that include Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, former Congressman and Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra, and Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who hosted Donald Trump for a discussion in Detroit earlier this summer.
The list was mostly correct, but Bishop Ellis, a vocal supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, won’t be in attendance when these others gather to share their perspectives on the significant role religious communities play in shaping political discourse and advocating for the needs of their communities.
“They had me hosting it with Pastor Lorenzo Sewell. I’m not trying to act like my name is going to sway people to do something or vote one way or another. I’m not arrogant like that. But I’m concerned. My name isn’t in their database anywhere,” Bishop Ellis, who leads Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, told Michigan Chronicle.
“I’ve never been to a Republican function. I’ve never signed up for anything. I’ve never given anybody my email or my phone number. I’ve never filled out a document. I’m sure that they have millions of people in their system, but I’m not in there. I don’t know how or where they got that I was interested in attending or being a part of that. I was never asked to participate, and I never asked to be a part of it. I don’t know how they could make that mistake.”
Gina Barr, director of Black engagement for the Trump campaign, said she was responsible for the mistake. Barr said she was dealing with the stress related to the death of her mother earlier this week, which is why the mistake happened.
“In keeping with her tenacious spirit, while simultaneously attempting to plan her unexpected home-going, I elected to remain committed to President Trump and my family’s longtime support of the Detroit evangelical community and erroneously misspelled the name of local Detroit pastor and roundtable participant,” Barr said in a statement. “The burden of grief is not a mortal sin and something all pastors and political parties should understand and support.”
Bishop Ellis’ name is still listed as an event attendee on the official event notice on DonaldJTrump.com, but the bishop said the campaign sent out an email to a much smaller group notifying them of the mistake and that Bishop Ellis would not be attending.
“Again, I’m not arrogant enough to believe that my name would matter that much to them to lie about me being there, but if this was intentional, then I’m highly offended that someone would misuse my name like that thinking that it would bring some attention to their event,” Bishop Ellis said.
“I don’t want people to attend or interested in checking it out because they see my name there and want to see what I have to say. I won’t be there and I’m not supportive of Donald Trump. He’s a convicted felon. Come on. If you were a convicted felon, would they be advocating votes for you? I doubt it. There’s no doubt that he sparked that insurrection. Do you think we could be heroes or patriots doing that?”
A Trump campaign spokesperson said that Bishop Ellis was mistakenly for Apostle Ellis Smith, founder of Jubilee City Church in Redford Township.
“I won’t be voting for Donald Trump, but everybody has their right and everybody has their choice. Afterall, this is America.”
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