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Jennifer Jacobs, The Des Moines Register 11:23 p.m. EDT September 19, 2015

DES MOINES, Iowa — "I brought my Bible!" Donald Trump told about 1,000 Iowa Christian conservatives the moment he hit the stage at a fundraising dinner in Des Moines.

The New York businessman then launched into a defense of the Muslim controversy that has dogged him since Thursday. The incident happened at one of his New Hampshire campaign rallies when Trump didn't correct a man who said Muslims are a "problem in this country" and that President Obama isn't an American.

On Saturday at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition's fall fundraiser banquet, Trump read some of the messages he'd tweeted earlier in the day. One tweet: "Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!"

"This is the first time in my life that I have caused controversy by not saying something," Trump told the audience at the dinner, hosted by one of Iowa's leading social conservative organizations.

Trump repeatedly asked the crowd for validation.

"If I would've challenged the man, that's the man they said was somewhat maybe negative to the president, the media would've accused me of interfering with that man's right of free speech. A no-win situation."

The audience responded with mild applause.

Later, he said: "This is the important part especially for this room. Christians — I'm a Presbyterian, do you believe me? — Christians need support in our country and around the world. ... The first priority of my administration would be to preserve and protect religious liberty."

Only a few people rose to their feet when Trump took the stage, and about a quarter stood to give him a standing ovation after his 20-minute appearance. Later, almost the entire crowd jumped up to applaud and hoot when Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa was introduced.

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Some Iowa evangelical conservatives have expressed skepticism about Trump since his appearance at a social conservatives' forum in Ames in July, when he said he had never asked God for forgiveness and referred to communion as a "little cracker." Also at that July speech, Trump hurled insults at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accusing the former Vietnam War POW of a lack of heroism, causing a stir among the largely Christian crowd.

On Saturday, eight GOP hopefuls were scheduled to appear at the fundraising banquet, held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

The speakers, in order as they were scheduled to speak: former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, Trump, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former New York Gov. George Pataki, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Santorum on Saturday night made a passionate plea for Iowa conservatives to support him for president a second time. He's the Republican who at the very last minute in the 2012 race surged to the top and won the Iowa caucuses.

There's only one Republican in the presidential race who has "experience as an outsider," skill as a congressional insider, and who "never wavered" when it comes to fighting for life, marriage, faith and religious freedom, Santorum told the audience.

"You know me," he said.

And radical Islamic terrorist organizers also know who he is, he said.

"ISIS knows me. How do I know? Because I was in their magazine five months ago," Santorum said. "They know me and I know them and if you want to defeat them, you elect me, and I'll take care of the job."

Santorum wrapped up his 20-minute appearance by saying: "You did a good job last time. Please — repeat."

The other candidates were scheduled to speak later Saturday night.

At least four of those candidates — Cruz, Huckabee, Jindal and Santorum — are explicitly courting Iowa's sizable bloc of socially conservative evangelical Christians as their primary base of support in the caucuses. And two of them, Huckabee and Santorum, are previous caucus winners whose victories depended in large part on activists like those attending Saturday's forum.

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