Trump lashes evangelicals
America’s evangelicals have previously been a core base of support for Donald Trump and his Maga movement. But this week Trump lashed out at the ‘‘disloyalty’’ of church leaders who appear lukewarm at the prospect of his second coming as president.
Trump’s outburst on Tuesday seemed to breach the extraordinary alliance in which prominent evangelical Christians turned a blind eye to his faults in return for long-sought policy goals. Despite delivering three justices who backed the Supreme Court ruling to end the nationwide right to abortion, Trump’s 2024 campaign has met with a cool reception from evangelical leaders waiting to see how the Republican nomination race develops. Several potential rivals, notably Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, and Trump’s vicepresident, Mike Pence, have deeply held religious convictions which could appeal to evangelical voters.
Trump let his frustration show on the right-wing streaming channel Real America’s Voice. Asked for his message to ‘‘prominent evangelical leaders who backed you last time ... [but are] not yet willing to commit’’, Trump initially said: ‘‘Well, I don’t really care.’’ He then added: ‘‘Look, it’s a sign of disloyalty. There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics. Nobody has ever done more for ‘right to life’ than Donald Trump ... They got something they’ve been fighting for ... [on] Roe v Wade, they finally won.’’
In 2020 white evangelical voters accounted for a third of his votes. But since his defeat to Joe Biden, their leaders have been backing away. The veteran televangelist Pat Robertson said that December ‘‘the president still
lives in an alternate reality’’ because of his insistence he was the true winner. For Trump, 76, to run again ‘‘will be a mistake’’, he added. This was a retreat from Robertson’s pre-election prediction – based on a message from God – that Trump would triumph.
For others, the riot in Washington on January 6, 2021, may have been a Damascene moment. Robert Jeffress, of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, backed Trump from before he won the Republican primary contest and long before Pence was named his running mate in a move seen as designed to shore up evangelical support. Jeffress regularly appeared on Fox News defending Trump, including over the allegations of adultery with the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Jeffress gave the official prayer at the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, a key evangelical goal
met by Trump. But he wrote that the US Capitol attack was ‘‘despicable and wrong’’ and on the day Trump said he would run again, Jeffress tweeted support for Pence’s book So Help Me God, praising Pence as ‘‘a great friend, a committed Christian and a true American hero’’.
John Fea, of Messiah College in Pennsylvania, who studies evangelical politics, said: ‘‘What evangelicals want is the best candidate to beat Biden. Some may conclude Trump is too damaged after January 6. Trump, DeSantis, Pence, they all deliver the same policies.’’
Polling by WPA Intelligence suggests Biden beating Trump but DeSantis beating Biden. White evangelicals will vote overwhelmingly Republican whoever the candidate is, Fea said, adding: ‘‘For all the misgivings ... they hate Biden more.’’ –
‘‘What evangelicals want is the best candidate to beat Biden. Some may conclude Trump is too damaged after January 6. Trump, DeSantis, Pence, they all deliver the same policies.’’
John Fea of Messiah College in Pennsylvania