Liberal Forum

In a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Monday night, President Trump repeated his debunked claim that he had gotten "rid of" a law forbidding churches and charitable organizations from endorsing political candidates, according to recorded excerpts reviewed by NBC News.

In fact, the law remains on the books, after efforts to kill it in Congress last year failed.

But Trump cited this alleged accomplishment as one in a series of gains he has made for his conservative Christian supporters, as he warned "You're one election away from losing everything that you've got," and said their opponents were "violent people" who would overturn these gains "violently."

Trump addressed the law and the upcoming midterms in private remarks Monday during a dinner with evangelical supporters at the White House after the press left.

At stake in the November midterms, Trump told the audience, are all the gains he has made for conservative Christians.

"The level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable," he said.

"Part of it is because of some of the things I've done for you and for me and for my family, but I've done them….

This November 6th election is very much a referendum on not only me, it's a referendum on your religion, it's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment."

If the GOP loses, he said, "they will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently, and violently.

There's violence. When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people."