Although U.S. President Donald Trump continues to suffer from weak approval ratings in poll after poll, one group that, on the whole, still holds him in high regard is white evangelical Christian fundamentalists — who view him as a staunch defender of Christianity. But Trump’s support among Christians is far from universal, and according to i Paper reporter Daniel Bates, some Christians believe that evangelicals are doing their faith a huge disservice by exalting the president as a prophet.
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Bates, in the UK-based i Paper, explains, “White evangelical Christians have been vital for Trump’s presidential wins, backing him by margins of between 75 and 85 per cent in his presidential campaigns…. Despite his multiple marriages, rumored infidelities, vulgarity, use of profane language and felony conviction for falsifying business records, evangelical Christians have stuck with Trump in what has been described as a ‘devil’s bargain,’ since it has brought victories for their position on issues like abortion and trans rights. The president’s supporters have described him as their ‘savior’ who was ‘anointed by God’ to bring Christianity back to America.”
Rihanna Teixeira, a former Trump supporter who was raised evangelical in Arizona, views evangelicals as cult-like when it comes to Trump.
Teixeira told the i Paper, “I wish I had a logical answer as to why I voted for him, but the truth is that the evangelical church is a cult. I started following historians and people who I felt could give neutral and honest reporting on what was happening. I also moved out of the small town that I was living in and moved to Los Angeles where I met and became friends with people who were being directly impacted by Trump and his policies. I also worked with a lot of DACA (immigrant) students who were having to give up their dreams of bettering their lives. Seeing first-hand how he was impacting people made me start to question everything I had been taught previously.”
Another Christian fundamentalist who now refuses to support Trump is the Rev. Jared Stacy.
The Baptist minister told the i Paper, “The story I inherited was that if Democrats were in charge, it would mean the end of America and the persecution of Christians. I remember the rhetoric around the (Monica) Lewinsky scandal and the importance of character in the White House, which is ironic now. When I voted for Trump in 2016, it was a hold-my-nose kind of thing. My political compass back then was disoriented from the faith I confess today. Though I would have defended my decision back then as ‘biblical,’ it was entirely a gamble — one that emerged from anxious fear, not faith, hope, and love…. When you see widespread evangelical embrace of a political figure, it’s not just political support, it’s the permission that embrace gives to ways of operating that have historically permeated how white evangelicalism in this country operates.”
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Christian author Karen Prior explained why so many white evangelicals continue to support Trump.
Prior told the i Paper, “His court succeeded in overturning Roe vs. Wade, and many white evangelicals felt like he delivered on his campaign promise on abortion. Four years after the decision, however, the abortion rate has slightly risen, and the Trump administration is increasing access to medical abortions. It’s just becoming harder and harder to deny that Trump’s positions on the moral issues traditionally important to evangelicals are anything but inconsistent and incoherent.”
According to the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president of the Interfaith Alliance, more evangelicals are seeing the contradiction between supporting Trump and preaching a very strict form of Christianity.
Raushenbush told the i Paper, “There will always be true believers in Donald Trump but others are asking, ‘Is he really the kind of leader that represents Christian values?’ There’s a large movable middle that’s beginning to say, ‘Is this really the best we can do?'”
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