While Donald Trump is on track to win the Republican presidential nomination for a third time, he is increasingly incorporating Christian elements into his campaign, but Trump's popularity among evangelicals and other conservative Christians is growing. His support is as strong as ever.
Kimberly Vaughn of Florence, Kentucky, joined other supporters of the former president at a campaign rally near Dayton, Ohio, saying, “Mr. Trump stands for Jesus. Without Jesus, America would fall apart.'' Deaf,” he said.
Many of the T-shirts and hats worn and sold at the March rally bore religious slogans such as “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president” and “God, guns and Trump.” One man's shirt proclaimed “Make America Good Again” and featured a glowing image of Jesus with his hand on President Trump's shoulder.
Many attendees said in interviews that they believed President Trump shared their Christian beliefs and values. Several cited opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, particularly transgender representation.
None expressed concern about Trump's past conduct or current criminal charges, including allegations that he tried to hide hush-money payments to porn actors during the 2016 campaign. Trump's supporters saw him as representing a religion of second chances.
And for many, Trump is a champion of Christianity and patriotism.
“I believe he believes in the God and military of our country, America,” said Tammy Houston of New Lexington, Ohio.
“I put my family first, but on a larger scale, I put America first,” said Sherry Kotterman of Sidney, Ohio. “And I would always prefer to have a president who openly recognizes that he needs God's power more than his own.”
In many ways, this is a familiar story.
Approximately 8 in 10 white evangelical Christians supported Trump in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. A verified poll of voters by the Pew Research Center found a similar proportion supported him in 2016.
But even though this is a new campaign, and Republican voters were able to choose between several conservative Christian candidates in the early primaries, that support continues to persist, Trump None of the candidates faced legal problems or allegations of misconduct like his. Trump won 55% to 69% of white evangelical voters in the Republican primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, according to AP VoteCast.
President Trump even criticized one of his competitors, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for signing a law strictly banning abortion.
Trump is currently on trial for everything from charges of conspiracy to overturn his 2020 election loss to charges of falsifying business records in an attempt to illegally sway the 2016 election with hush money from porn actor Stormy Daniels. He was the only Republican candidate to face numerous criminal charges. .
Trump is also the only Republican candidate with a history of casino business, two divorces, and sexual misconduct allegations, one of which was affirmed by a civil court verdict.
Republican primary voters still overwhelmingly chose Trump.
This has frustrated a minority of conservative evangelicals who see Trump as an unrepentant poseur who uses Bibles and prayer meetings as photo props. They see him as lacking true faith and facing credible and serious allegations of misconduct while campaigning with inflammatory rhetoric and authoritarian ambitions. ing.
Karen Swallow Prior, a Christian author and literary scholar who criticized support for Trump by fellow evangelicals, said that support in 2024 is familiar but “intensified.”
She has said in the past that Trump supporters expect him to share his Christian faith but are not sure.
“Now his supporters believe in themselves,” she said. “Despite the fact that President Trump clearly wavers on abortion and wavers on LGBTQ issues, those things are just ignored and erased from the narrative.”
At the Ohio rally, several attendees expressed their belief that Trump followed the Christian path of repenting and starting a new life.
“We were all born in sin. Jesus sat with sinners, so we're going to sit with Trump,” Vaughn said. “What matters is not where Trump came from, but where he is going and where he is taking us.”
The Ohio rally, like other President Trump events, featured recordings of the national anthem by some people convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. President Trump called them “patriots.”
At the entrance to the rally, a group distributed pamphlets urging participants to “trust in Jesus Christ for salvation” and to support “J6 Patriots.”
Jodi Picari of Englewood, Ohio, said her Catholic faith and views on abortion are central.
“I'm a right-to-life person,” she said. “That means a lot to me. And just morality. I think the moral compass is so out of whack right now. And we need religion and church to get us back here.”
She acknowledged that a future President Trump may not be able to influence abortion laws because the Supreme Court has left the abortion issue up to the states.
“But I know that he will never go and visit an abortion clinic like our vice president did,” she said, adding that in March, Kamala visited a family planning clinic in Minnesota.・He hinted that Harris had visited.
Robert Jones, director of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of a book on white supremacy in American Christianity, said evangelical support for Trump was not surprising. But less than half of white evangelicals in a 2023 PRRI poll said abortion was an issue that was personally important to them, he said. More than half said five other issues were serious issues, including human trafficking, public schools, rising prices, immigration, and crime.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about white evangelical support for Trump is the idea that it's actually an abortion issue and they're holding their nose and voting for Trump,” Jones said.
He added that Trump's rhetoric about immigrants “invading our country and changing our cultural heritage” resonated with his audience.
The slogan “Make America Great Again” reflects “an ethno-religious vision of white Christian America that can only be seen below the surface,” Jones said.
He acknowledged that Trump has attracted black supporters, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and that racism is not absolute.
The Ohio rally was attended by a majority of white participants, but blacks and other ethnic groups also attended.
Mr. Trump's rallies have featured the symbols, rhetoric, and agenda of Christian nationalism, typically including the belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and seeks to privilege Christianity in public life. There is.
President Trump has championed a version of the Bible that includes the founding documents of the United States and the lyrics to Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA.”
“This is a Bible that caters to a certain kind of white evangelical audience that sees themselves as the rightful inheritors of the country,” Jones said, adding that about half of white evangelicals believe that God created America. He cited a 2023 PRRI poll that agreed it was intended as the Promised Land. European Christians.
At the Ohio rally, some participants said they believed the nation and its founding documents, such as the Bill of Rights, had Christian origins, although historians dispute such claims. .
Some Trump supporters expressed hope for a more Christian America.
Thomas Isbell of Greensboro, North Carolina, who has set up vending booths at many Trump rallies, said his “God, Guns, Trump” shirts are the best sellers.
“This is a Christian country,” he said, adding that if he were president he would only allow public worship by Christians.
“We have no intention of building temples to other gods on this land,” he said.
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