What's behind the unwavering Evangelical support for Trump?

Despite his complex legal background and personal controversies, Donald Trump continues to receive support from conservative Christian groups. Key figures within the MAGA movement, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, have escalated their support to the extent of likening Trump to Jesus.

As reported by CNN, at a rally in Las Vegas Greene, who has frequently made reference to Trump's Jesus-esque qualities said,  “The Democrats and the fake news media want to constantly talk about 'President Trump is a convicted felon'. Well, you want to know something? The man that I worship is also a convicted felon. And he was murdered on a Roman cross.”

MTG's comparison of Donald Trump to Jesus did not go down well with a lot of people however, many in MAGA movement honestly believe that Trump was sent here to help America by God. It is mind-boggling and makes one wonder: How do Christians in the United States justify supporting Donald Trump?

It doesn't matter if you are a Christian yourself or not, anyone with a basic understanding of the Bible and Jesus' teachings would have a hard time calling Donald Trump a good Christian. Yet, somehow, Trump's White evangelical Christians followers are able to overlook all of his issues.

Donald Trump is known for his divorces, accusations of extramarital affairs, insulting women, dehumanizing immigrants and has even been found guilty of sexual assault.

Furthermore, many of his policies and plans for the country are hardly what one would call Christian. Then, of course, there are the 91 state and federal criminal charges the former president faces. So what excuses this behaviour? What kind of mental gymnastics are Christians performing to justify supporting this man?

Understanding why Christians, particularly Evangelicals, support Trump is essential; after all, they could help him win the 2024 election.

Journalist Tim Alberta tackles this in his book 'The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory.' In his book, Alberta explains that there are many Evangelicals out there who truly believe that Trump has been "ordained by God."

Alberta also wrote that many Evangelicals believe that the "United States has been uniquely blessed." If these Christian Trump followers honestly believe these things, it is unsurprising that they are willing to forgive his "sins."

In an article on this subject, NPR's Sarah McCammon spoke to white Evangelicals who supported Donald Trump and tried to understand how they could support a man who is far from a good Christian. Shelly Buhrow told McCammon that Christians like her simply look past Trump's mistakes.

Buhrow, a Trump supporter since 2016, asked the reporter, "Have you read the Bible? Many people in the Bible were married multiple times, and they didn't always do the perfect thing." Buhrow continued, "People aren't perfect. God is perfect."

When McCammon asked Ms. Buhrow about Trump's 91 state and federal criminal charges, she simply told the reporter that she believes the charges are "illegitimate" and that they won't "stick."

In a piece for Discourse Magazine, Evangelical Mark David Hall wrote about why he believes Evangelicals vote for Donald Trump. David says that, essentially, he voted for Donald Trump and will again in 2024 because Donald Trump supports religious liberty.

Hall wrote on voting for Trump in 2016 and 2020: "I still considered him to be a less-than-virtuous person (to put it mildly), but I thought his executive orders on religious liberty were wonderful, his judicial appointments were outstanding, and he had been relatively constrained in his use of violence around the globe."

Mark David Hall also wrote that Donald Trump also achieved what many Evangelicals consider their top priority - overturning Roe v. Wade.

By achieving this, Donald Trump won over the hearts of so many Christians in the United States, like Hall, most consider Roe v. Wade "the second-worst Supreme Court decision ever made", and Trump's actions made him a hero in their eyes.

The Financial Times wrote a piece about why white Christians support Trump in which they mention comments from Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert in 2022, in which she expressed thoughts that many Christians seem to share.

Boebert, while speaking about gun rights, said, "I'm tired of this 'separation of church and state' junk . . . The church is supposed to direct the government."

Brad Sherman, a state representative and Evangelical pastor, told NPR that even though Trump often "says things I wouldn't say," he considers Trump's jarring manner necessary.

"Yeah, he's brash; he's a fighter," Sherman told NPR. "That's who we need right now in the political arena, in the environment that exists. You gotta be tough."

While the vast majority of White Christians seem to be able to look past Donald Trump's faults and instead value what Trump can achieve for them, not everyone is on board; in fact, some have serious concerns.

Iowa pastor Al Perez spoke to NPR about his worries over how some Christians practically worship Donald Trump. Perez is a conservative Pentecostal, and miracles and direct communication with God are widely believed in his community.

Perez told NPR he became concerned in 2020 when some community members said they believed "Trump would win the 2020 election because of what they believed were divine "prophecies" about Trump."

Perez said, "As an evangelical — Latino evangelical — I'm very concerned. That this is almost ... messianic, as though that's the best way to describe it to you. I'm very concerned"

Perez continued, "I think the lines become blurred. We cross certain lines when we think a certain candidate's going to solve all the ills and problems of the world, of America."

The most basic Christian principles teach that we should love one another, even if they come from a different land or are shunned by our community.

Donald Trump recently said that immigrants were not even people and said they were like "animals," comments which clearly show he is hardly trying to follow in Jesus' footsteps.

However, it seems the vast majority of white Christians care more about having someone in power who is going to "fight" for them, for what they think is right, for their beliefs. And that person, in their eyes, certainly isn't Joe Biden.

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So, even while facing 91 criminal charges, Donald Trump will likely receive massive support from Evangelicals in America when it is time to vote in November.