Presidential candidate wants to chase hate from public life

8/2/2023

A pastor and businessman from Texas, with roots in Georgia, is pinning his presidential bid on a Christian ethos of bringing divided people together on common issues.

Ryan Binkley, a Republican, thinks the appetite for hopeful leaders remains strong in the nation. His inspiration comes from an abiding Christian faith, and the execution is fueled by a business background, says Binkley, the president and CEO of Generational Group located in Richardson, Texas. The candidate also holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

“It’s not always what we say, it’s how we say it,” Binkley said recently in Panora.

Binkley and his wife, Ellie, are also founders of Create Church, a “multiethnic, multigenerational church” in the Dallas area. Binkley said he was inspired to return to Texas and start the church after he had a brother die in 2001 in a collision with a drunk driver.

In campaign events in Panora and Waukee, and during two interviews, Binkley said America “needs to turn back to God.”

“There’s no way for us to overcome the problems we have if we are in the divided state we are in,” Binkley said. “We have to recognize that even though we may disagree on many things, that God has a place of unity for us, and there is a power there. Even Abraham Lincoln said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ And he was quoting a pretty good source — Jesus Christ.”

Binkley said his platform is focused not on Democrat or Republican ideas but an American agenda. Most urgently, a bipartisan effort is needed to reduce the $33 trillion national debt — much of which is being financed by China, Binkley said.

“China is about ready to start taking us over — and it can,” Binkley said.

His main goal now: collect 40,000 donors so he can make debate stages in the GOP nominating process.

“I think right now we do have a lot of things happening in all the states,” Binkley said. “And so there’s a snowball effect happening. I think we’ve had more (donors) in the last three weeks than we have the previous eight weeks combined here since we’ve launched.” 

Binkley’s pitch in Waukee this past Sunday, “Hey, he’s a decent guy, give him a buck.”

Several hundred people gathered for a showing of the movie “Sound Of Freedom” did just that.

Binkley’s campaign funded a packed auditorium at the Palms Theatres.

The movie, starring Jim Caviezel, spotlights the scourge and horrors of international child trafficking. Binkley said he would make the fight against exploitation of children a priority in his presidency.

“I had a chance to preview it privately about three or four weeks ago, and my family went, it really moved my heart as well,” Binkley said in the interview. “As we know, human trafficking is at an all-time high in America. Our southern border has contributed a lot to that.”

There are other factors, too, he said.

“I also think with the increase in pornography across our nation that that’s added to this,” Binkley said. “And I think raising the awareness of this, because everything that’s behind everything regarding any form of sexual addiction and perversion contributes to this, in many ways.” ♦

Douglas Burns of Carroll is fourth-generation journalist and founder of Mercury Boost, a marketing and public relations company.