Trump, Bible in hand, courts evangelical Christians

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump recently showed up at a gathering of Iowa conservative Christian voters with a copy of the Bible in hand.

“See, I’m better than you thought,” he said. Then came a black-and-white photograph from his confirmation to further prove his Christian cred.

As the Republican presidential front-runner and billionaire businessman tries to maintain his lead in early polls with rivals gaining, Trump is increasingly courting a wing of the Republican Party that might seem antithetical to his brand: evangelical Christians.

After initially declining the invitation, Trump spoke Friday in front of several hundred social conservative leaders at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington. He joined a speaking program that includes Republican rivals with long records of dedication to religious causes — among them, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who wants his colleagues to risk a government shutdown to block funding to Planned Parenthood.

Trump brought his Bible along once again, and briefly addressed his faith between attacks on his rivals and Democrats.

“I believe in the Bible,” he said. He ended by bemoaning the increased use of the term “Happy Holidays” in place of “Merry Christmas” as a sign that Christianity is under attack.

In many ways, Trump’s brand as the bombastic, thricemarried billionaire showman would seem an ill-fit among religious conservatives. He once held a reputation as a womanizing playboy, previously supported abortion rights and appears to spend more time calling into Sunday morning talk shows than attending church.

Trump likes to boast about the Bible being his favorite book, but he has refused to quote his favorite biblical verse when asked what it was.

Some evangelical leaders are skeptical.

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said Trump’s candidacy is fundamentally opposed to Christian values.

“When one looks at the very serious moral character questions, from Trump’s involvement in the casino gambling industry all the way through to his attitude toward women, Donald Trump is the embodiment of everything that evangelical Christians have been standing against in American culture,” he said.