People keep asking why evangelicals love a toad like Trump. [View all]
There are lot’s of reasons, but I think the core of it is this:
The central concept of the evangelical movement—the born-again experience—is easily manipulated.
Trump presents himself as recently “born again,” so nothing he did before that matters. I was imbedded in that movement. I heard people brag about how bad they used to be. The more depraved they were before conversion, the better their “testimony” would be.
Trump kind of did that. He admitted to having a crazy life —while never proving details of course. Grifter ministers amplified that by calling Trump a “baby Christian,” still new to the faith.
Evangelicals were titillated by imagining the decadence of Trump’s “former” life. At the same time Trump flattered them by implying that he’d given it all up to become just like them. It was powerful bullshit.
Evangelicals marched to the polls to vote for the new, “born again” Trump they wanted to see. Not only was he just like them, he gave them permission to express their deep anger at those who weren’t.
The Trump show is intoxicating to some people. But like other hard drugs, it’s a bad idea to shoot Trumpism into your veins too often.
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