Mitt Romney calls Trump's pastor pick for historic event a 'bigot' - here's his response

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney decried the pastor that President Trump chose to pray at the historic ceremony for the opening of the U.S. embassy for Israel in Jerusalem.

Here's what he said

Romney posted a tweet voicing his anger over Trump's pastor pick.

"Robert Jeffress says 'you can’t be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell,'" he tweeted. "He’s said the same about Islam."

"Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem," he concluded.

"Neither bigoted nor newsworthy."

Pastor Jeffress is a Southern Baptist, and the quotes attributed to him by Romney are accurate. Jeffress responded to the critique from Romney and defended his comments in his own tweet.

"Historic Christianity has taught for 2,000 years that salvation is through faith in Christ alone," he said. "The fact that I, along with tens of millions of evangelical Christians around the world, continue to espouse that belief, is neither bigoted nor newsworthy."

The move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been decided since 1995, but each president since then has postponed it.

Jeffress spoke about why the moment was so historic and significant while on Fox News.

"This is a historic moment because it represents the United States recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," he said, "something that the Bible and secular history has told us for three thousand years."

"And what's remarkable about that is simply this - if indeed Jerusalem has been the capital for three thousand years, it blows apart the myth perpetrated by the left that the Jews stole this land from the Palestinians 70 years ago," he added. "The fact is, it has belonged to them for three thousand years. And that's why this is so significant."

Here's Jeffress' prayer at the dedication in Jerusalem: