Robert Jeffress prays at the US Embassy in Jerusalem Friday (ABC NEWS)
SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney criticized the choice of a Texas Baptist pastor, Robert Jeffress, for opening prayer for the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
Romney tweeted Sunday night that Jeffress is a “religious bigot,” who has criticized Jews, Mormons, and Islam in the past.
Jeffress has been under fire for attacks specifically on Romney in the past. During the 2012 Presidential campaign, he told reporters before a campaign event that voters should not support Romney because he believed the LDS faith is a cult, a comment he later backed down from.
Jeffress responded on Twitter.
“These were comments ripped out of context from years ago,” he told “Fox and Friends First” early Friday morning before the ceremony. “Historic Christianity for 2,000 years has taught that salvation is through faith in Christ alone. The fact that I and tens of millions of evangelical Christians still believe that is not bigoted and it is not newsworthy,” he said.
Utah Senate Democratic candidate Jenny Wilson also criticized the choice of Jeffress to speak.
You can watch Jeffress’ prayer at the event here on YouTube.