Trump Knows White Evangelical Base Silently Applauds Him in the US

In January 2016, President Donald Trump gave a campaign speech at the chapel of a Christian college in the small city of Sioux Center, Iowa—a speech in a city with less than 8,000 residents, in a nationally insignificant state that is not even considered decisive in the American presidential race.

But there was a key phrase in this speech that could go unnoticed, which, for many, pointed to this improbable candidate’s turnaround, though he was unqualified even among Republican politicians to defeat Hillary Clinton in that year’s elections.

“Christians make up the overwhelming majority of the country. And yet we don’t exert the power that we should have,” Trump said. After the applause, he finished his central promise, “Christianity will have power. If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power, you don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that.”

The conservative white evangelical factor remains an embarrassing counterbalance that must be taken seriously in order to understand the American election and the actual conditions for Trump to be reelected, even in the midst of Biden’s apparent rise. The president trusts this, and all of his declarations and stances show just how much he does.

It is hasty to imagine that Trump’s clearly racist statements, incitement to violence, or even his abysmal management of COVID-19 have weakened him to the point of guaranteeing Biden’s victory.

A Pew Research Center poll from July this year indicated that no less than 82% of white evangelical voters would vote for Trump and only 17% of them would vote for Biden. Eight out of every 10 white evangelical voters would vote for Trump.

The president is not a madman shouting into the wind as many imagine. He knows his base and understands what they want. If he is confident enough to ignore police brutality against the Black population, if he blatantly defends armed white people shooting at anti-racism protestors, if he makes racist statements and deliberately minimizes the devastating effect of the pandemic, it is probably because these are calculated risks. Ultimately, he knows that his base is silently applauding him.

So-called “Christian nationalism” remains stronger than ever in the U.S. and it has strength and ramifications from the long-ago formation of American society, controlling policy, defending segregation and conspiring against democratic freedom for other groups of society (Blacks, Latinos, women, LGBTQ+, etc.).

Christian nationalism asserts that the U.S. is a Christian nation and that this “identity” should be defended to the death. This belief superimposes religious identity and national identity in a way that verges on a “theocracy” dressed up as a secular state. It is the defense of what it means to be “truly American.” This means prohibiting the life and desires of all who are not “legitimate.”

All they expect from Trump is to remain inflexible against legalizing abortion and the threat to Christian symbols staying in schools and to nominate conservative and ultraconservative names to the Supreme Court. They also expect him to continue to shield churches from paying taxes, even when they make money, and a lot of it, with their schools and colleges. Many of them still remain practically segregated today (unofficially).

In the midst of the chaos into which the country has been plunged with the successive protests in response to police brutality, Trump, when he does take a stance, does so in defense of the police, owners of destroyed establishments (most owners are white) and stoned churches. This is the “right side of history” for Trump and Christian nationalism.

Many believe that during the president’s visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where everything happened, it would be an act of Christian generosity for him to visit the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man shot seven times by white police offers. But Christian nationalism’s brand of Christianity is not exactly the same as that of Jesus, who washes poor people’s feet or consoles the weeping. The movement is law and order for Black people and immigrants.

Recently, award-winning documentarian Michael Moore stirred up readers and followers by claiming that the enthusiasm of Trump’s base would be “off the charts” of the polls. Moore is credited with being one of the few people to doubt Hillary’s victory and calling attention to Trump’s arrival to the White House in 2016.

In the 2020 American election, the role of Christian nationalism, as well as the role that conservative white evangelicals are playing as Trump’s pillar of support, must not be underestimated. Any similarity with Brazil may not be mere coincidence either.