Evangelical Christians need Republicans. Does the party need them?
When Donald Trump recalled how his three US supreme court justices helped repeal the nationwide right to abortion, the audience rose to its feet and erupted in whistles, whoops and prolonged applause. But even as the former president basked in the religious right’s moment of triumph, he went on to deliver a warning.
“I will say politically, it’s a very tough, it’s a very tough decision for some people, but very, very hard on elections. Very, very hard,” Trump told a gathering of Christian conservatives in the ballroom of a Washington hotel. “We had midterms and this was an issue, you know.”
He added: “Now we can win elections on this issue but it’s very delicate and explaining it properly is extremely important. Many politicians who are pro-life do not know how to properly discuss this topic, which is so important to the people in this room, so important to millions and millions of people in our country.”
It was a rare moment of sober reflection during an hour-long speech that otherwise had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It also offered a glimpse of the dilemma facing evangelicals as they push the Republican field to embrace their extremist agenda in next year’s presidential election.
Other top Republican candidates for 2024 also trod carefully on abortion at the Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit on Friday. The tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did not mention the word at all. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, cited his state’s six-week abortion ban in a single sentence. Only Mike Pence, the devout former vice-president, unambiguously committed to a 15-week “national standard”.
The caution signaled Republicans’ awareness of how politically radioactive the issue has become, as evidenced by last year’s midterm elections and other votes in states such as Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll in June found that 80% of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban, including 65% of Republicans and 83% of independents.
But the religious right looks to be making more headway on other issues. Trump, who got by far the most enthusiastic reception, declared: “On day one I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children.”
Earlier, DeSantis, touting his war on “woke”, boasted that Florida has outlawed puberty blockers and gender surgeries, prohibited “gender ideology” in schools and prevented teachers forcing students to identify their pronouns.