Bachmann, Perry to speak at Falwell’s Liberty University

Rep. Michele Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry  will each be dropping in for speaking engagements at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in September, the Lynchburg News and Advance reported Monday.

Perry is scheduled to speak Sept. 18, and Bachmann Sept. 24. LU spokesman Johnnie Moore told the News and Advance both had been invited months ago, before serious rumors that either would run for president, but LU Chancellor Falwell said the timing would work out well:

“Since Liberty is the world’s largest Christian university, we think it is important to expose the students to as many candidates as possible,” Falwell said.

Candidates should be able to take some cues from the students, as well, Falwell said.

“How well they are received at Liberty will be a good indicator for how they will be received in Christian circles nationwide,” Falwell said.

As The Hill pointed out, the Virginia university “has been a traditional stop for GOP presidential contenders in past election cycles, especially those hoping to court socially conservative voters.”

Newt Gingrich has spoken at Liberty a few times, most recently at an April conference dubbed “The Awakening.”

The LU stop is just the latest in a long list of speaking appearances Perry has added to his schedule in recent weeks.

Professors and leaders at the evangelical university have a history of anti-gay sentiment, and LGBT groups are planning protests around Perry’s American Family Association-hosted prayer rally in Houston in August.

The Texas Independent reported earlier today on how federal tax laws limit political talk around Perry’s appearance at the AFA-hosted event, and a 2008 complaint filed with the IRS against that group by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Liberty was also the subject of a similar complaint from AU in 2009, challenging the school’s tax-exempt status because it revoked its official recognition of a student Democratic club, which officials said was “contrary to Liberty’s evangelical Christian outlook.”

The IRS took no action, but Liberty responded with an IRS complaint of its own, questioning AU’s tax-exempt status and claiming the group targeted only conservative causes.