New Donald Trump Campaign Co-Chairman Blasted Candidate While Working for Rick Perry, Emails Show
— -- Donald Trump's new national co-chairman Sam Clovis, who recently defected from Rick Perry's campaign, sent emails as recently as two months ago questioning Trump's Christian faith and condemning his comments about John McCain, according to emails obtained by ABC News.
Sam Clovis, while serving as Perry's Iowa chairman, wrote in an email titled "Faith and Our Candidates" that that one candidate's comments "reveal no foundation in Christ, which is a big deal."
"Of all the potential candidates who spoke, one of them left me with questions about his moral center and his foundational beliefs," Clovis wrote.
Clovis' emails were originally reported by the Des Moines Register, but ABC News has independently obtained copies and confirmed they came from Clovis' email address.
The candidate that Clovis was referring to was Trump, according to the Des Moines Register.
Clovis, a military veteran, also sent the following reply on July 20 to an activist who emailed him saying Rick Perry should apologize for condemning Trump's comments about John McCain, in which he blasted the veteran's war record.
"His comments were offensive and people responded accordingly. I was offended by a man who sought and gained four student deferments to avoid the draft and who has never served this nation a day -- not a day -- in any fashion or way," Clovis wrote in the email.
"Why should I not be suspicious of someone who cannot come to say that he believes in God, that he has never asked for forgiveness and that communion is simply wine and a cracker," Clovis subsequently writes in the same email.
When asked by ABC News whether the candidate mentioned in his emails were in fact Donald Trump, Clovis pointed ABC News to the Des Moines Register article.
At the time these emails were sent, Clovis was Rick Perry's Iowa chairman. He signed on with Trump's campaign as national co-chairman earlier this week.
In an interview with ABC News, Clovis said he and Trump resolved the issues expressed in the emails before signing on with his campaign.
"There's no better way to resolve it than to have a discussion," he said. "The answers that Mr. Trump gave me were more than satisfactory and I wouldn't be working for him if they weren’t."
Clovis did not divulge details of his conversation with Trump, but said he wanted to hear about Trump's faith and views on veterans. He also said he researched "all of the wonderful things" Trump has done for veterans.
Rick Perry, whose campaign is strapped for cash, announced that funds were too low to compensate staffers earlier this month. Clovis told ABC News he was one of those staffers.
Clovis is a paid employee of the Trump campaign, he said. He said he is on a 1-year unpaid leave of absence from his job teaching at Iowa's Morningside College.
Donald Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
