washington republican presidential candidate donald trump tuesday endorsement evangelical christian leader jerry falwell jr. party 2016 presidential nomination trump campaign say falwell president liberty university virginia son late televangelist jerry falwell sr. pick trump believe billionaire businessman could lead country greatness campaign say statement trump vie chief rival u.s. senator ted cruz texas evangelical vote nomination race near first contest iowa caucus monday tuesday trump celebrate endorsement twitter great honor- rev jerry falwell jr. liberty university one respect religious leaders nation endorse tweet trump presbyterian endorsement come week falwell introduce trump speech give christian university introduction falwell say saw similarities trump father include penchant speak mind trump speech university without controversy trump criticize many evangelicals mistakenly refer book bible two corinthians instead second corinthians critics say misstep call question trump christian credentials cruz son baptist preacher make joke opponent flub speech monday riff old chrysler auto commercial two corinthians walk bar ah yes ricardo montalban genuine corinthian leather report megan cassella additional report amy tennery eric beech edit doina chiacu jonathan oatis sap sponsor coverage independently produce staff reuters news agency falwell jr. endorse trump u.s. president campaign statement