On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump canceled a campaign event that had been promoted as an endorsement from a group of Black pastors. The cancelation comes three days after Ebony Magazine published an open letter from more than 100 Black religious leaders and scholars, urging the group to consider Trump's "overtly divisive and racist" rhetoric.

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"We are concerned that your choice to meet with Mr. Trump, particularly in such a visible way, will not only de-radicalize the Black prophetic political tradition, but will also give Trump the appearance of legitimacy among those who follow your leadership and respect your position as clergy," the letter stated. "Trump's racially inaccurate, insensitive and incendiary rhetoric should give those charged with the care of the spirits and souls of Black people great pause."

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Trump released a statement last week suggesting that he would hold a press conference "to announce the endorsement of his campaign by '100 African American Evangelical pastors and religious leaders'" following a scheduled meeting at Trump Tower. But plans changed Monday, Reuters reported.

While a campaign spokesperson declined to say whether the event cancelation was related to the letter, Trump discussed the meeting in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe, arguing that the reason the group wasn't endorsing him was because of pressure from Black Lives Matter activists. He also emphasized that he believes that "all lives matter."

Trump said:

"I think what happened, probably it gets publicity, unfortunately, as everything I do gets publicity, and probably some of the Black Lives Matter folks called them up and said you shouldn't be meeting with Trump because he believes that all lives matter. I believe Black lives do matter, but I believe all lives matter very strongly."

Trump went on to say that he has a "great relationship with the Black pastors," and added that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was a "disgrace" for allegedly changing his position on the Black Lives Matter movement. Asked whether Black lives latter or all lives matter, Sanders and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton have both announced definitively that "Black lives matter."

The news of the event's cancelation is the latest in a series of campaign setbacks that Trump has encountered over the past week, Reuters reported. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from Friday showed that the candidate fell 12 points (with 31 percent of Republican voters supporting him, down from 43 percent) between November 22 and 27. Analysts have suggested that the drop might have to do with controversial comments Trump has made recently regarding a proposal to create a registration database for Muslims living in the U.S. and his widely disputed claim that thousands of Muslims celebrated the fall of the World Trade Center on September 11.

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Trump further alienated Black voters after tweeting a factually inaccurate graph of shooting statistics in the U.S., which suggested that Black Americans "were the overwhelming source of gun violence."