Republican Donald Trump Relationship With Conservative Evangelical Christians.

(ThyBlackMan.com) Conservative Evangelicalism is the philosophical belief system permeating different churches within Christianity—especially in the South, that seeks to retain their stringent biblical traditional beliefs of Christianity.  It seeks to influence politics and public policy with its exclusive interpretation of the teachings of Christianity. It is a political movement of Christians who support conservative political ideologies and policies within the secular or non-sectarian realm of politics. The movement is made up of predominantly White Christians formed around a core of conservative Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics beliefs. Church members are influenced by weekly sermons that focus on social issues and grievances to motivate the congregants to vote on those issues.

Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The term, “Evangelical” originated in the Bible. It is translated from the Greek euaggellion and the Anglo-Saxon godspel, meaning good news of salvation from sin through faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The term “Christian” was originally a derogatory term to insult those who followed the teaching of Jesus Christ. It was similar to the “N” word of today. “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).

We Have Found The Messiah!

June 16, 2015, was the first time Donald Trump came down the golden escalator in the Trump Tower to announce he was running for President. During that time, many Conservative Evangelical Christians being encouraged by their pastors to support Donald Trump may have at first asked themselves, “Can there any good thing come out of New York City?” Just as the disciple Nathanael when he first heard about Jesus asked, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” After a few months on the campaign trail running for the Republican nomination, the Conservative Evangelical Christian Community embraced Trump as if it was the disciple Andrew telling Peter he had found the Messiah (John 1:41-46).

By January 2016, Trump’s White Conservative Evangelical Christian support was so strong that he made a prophecy at a campaign rally in Sioux Center Iowa. He boasted that support for him would not decline even if he shot someone in the middle of a crowded street.

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

For the past seven years, as the nation lived through the Trump presidency and the nearly three years since Trump left office, the prophecy he forecasted back in 2016 is truer today than ever before. With each new revelation of Trump’s legal and moral ineptitude, his base of support seems to only grow stronger—especially among White Conservative Evangelical Christians. It is as if Trump is their New Messiah.

According to conservative Republican and former Illinois Congressman, Joe Walsh, the Republican Party is no longer a political party, “It is a cult. It is the party of Trumpism … Donald Trump can do no wrong and say no wrong. He is a martyr to Republican voters,” said Walsh. In other words, Trump’s followers see his legal and personal troubles not as the result of his own choices, but as his being persecuted by the evil left. They see Trump as being crucified for them.   Trump constantly tells his followers, “Always remember: they are coming after me, because I am fighting for you!” After making this statement at one of his rallies, a Trump faithful, @ibadchaarawtaza6125 posted: “Psalms 55:21 – The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.”

Trump has a solid devoted flock that will vote for him no matter what. More than 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for the MAGA party. Even with his un-Christlike character, being impeached twice, and all his current legal troubles, These ardent supporters hold a favorable view of Trump. They also believe everything that comes out of his mouth. His political rallies are like sermons on the mount.  A recent New York Times/Siena College poll shows that Trump has transformed the GOP into his own image. According to the poll, 71% of GOP primary voters think Republicans should stand behind Trump regardless of his personal or legal problems.

White Conservative Evangelical Christians are Trump’s most loyal supporters. They are his disciples. They are not hesitant in telling reporters and pollsters that almost nothing could make them change their minds about voting for Trump in the upcoming presidential race of 2024. White Conservative Evangelical Christians who pride themselves as the virtue of family values and law and order, see no wrong when it comes to Trump.  These Bible-carrying, scripture-quoting, faithfully tithe-paying individuals, wearing the “Make America Great Again” hats, have long accepted that the former president is not a model of virtue or integrity.

Not a Perfect Vessel

Aside from the Access Hollywood tape that surfaced just before the 2016 presidential election where Trump bragged about being able to grab women by their private parts, at least 18 women have accused Donald Trump of varying inappropriate behaviors, including allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault. This all occurred before he was found guilty by a Manhattan federal jury of sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll and ordered to pay 5 million dollars.

Trump has been married three times. His current wife Melania, prior to marrying Trump did nude modeling and some soft-porn shoots. White Conservative Evangelical Christians had nothing to say about this. But they made a big fuss when Michelle Obama once wore a sleeveless dress.

Adam Gabbatt, writer for the Guardian points out, that Evangelical leaders justified their support for Trump by comparing him to King Cyrus, as told in Ezra 1:1–4, who liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity. Even though King Cyrus was a Persian ruler who did not believe in the God of Israel—God, according to Evangelical leaders, used him to do God’s will (Ezra 1: 1-4). White Conservative Evangelical Christians believe that God is doing the same with Trump. Even though some of them may see Trump as a reprobate of a man—they believe that God is using him to do God’s will (Romans 1:28).

For White Conservative Evangelical Christians, Trump came to them like manna from heaven.  Although not a perfect vessel when it comes to morals and character—he still could be used by God to lead a modern-day crusade against what they believe is a deteriorating godless America thanks to the decades of minority achievements brought on by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s (Abortion, Affirmative Action, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Integration, Interracial Marriage, Women Rights, Voting Rights, etc.). Trump appointing three justices to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade was, to White Conservative Evangelical Christians, like the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead—“no more dead babies.”

Robert Jones, president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, using the research of PRRI, concluded that White Conservative Evangelical Christians do not support Trump because of his anti-abortion position, but because of his racist views. “It was never really about abortion. I think that that line is, frankly, a propaganda line for evangelical leaders to try to justify their support for Trump,” said Jones. The slogan ‘Make America Great Again,’ was very appealing to White Conservative Evangelical Christians. The most powerful word in that mantra was the last one. What it did is it evoked this powerful sense of nostalgia for an America that many white conservative Christians saw slipping away.”

During Trump’s 2016 campaign, “He was railing against Muslims and immigrants much more than he was railing against abortion. At every rally, he was talking about ‘build the wall’ to keep Mexican immigrants out of the US. He was going to ban travel from Muslim-majority countries. I think it was those kinds of appeals that communicated this worldview that the country was rightfully owned by white Christians, and he was going to protect that view of the country,” said Jones. Also, as president, Trump refused to denounce white supremacists who had rallied in Charlottesville.

Finish story here; Republican Donald Trump Relationship With Conservative Evangelical Christians?

Staff Writer; Robert J. Walker

This brother is a retired Mississippi Educator. He is the author of several books including; and Kindle. He lives in Walls, Mississippi.

One may contact him at; [email protected].