Every 24-hour news cycle seems to bring a new alleged scandal involving President Donald Trump.
If you believe the headlines, Trump has referred to Americans who died in war as “losers” and “suckers.” He has avoided paying federal taxes. And he has — according to McKay Coppins of The Atlantic — secretly mocked his Christian supporters. (Click here for tmatt’s “Crossroads” podcast and post on this topic.)
My question is: Does it matter from a political standpoint?
“The president’s alliance with religious conservatives has long been premised on the contention that he takes them seriously, while Democrats hold them in disdain,” Coppins wrote this week. “In speeches and interviews, Trump routinely lavishes praise on conservative Christians, casting himself as their champion.”
But while Trump critics hyperventilate over such stories, voters knew about his propensity to be a jerk before they elected him.
Even in his public statements, the Republican incumbent typically sounds more like a blabbering professional wrestler than a prominent world leader. (Did you catch the debate the other night?)
With all that in mind, I thought Michelle Boorstein, the award-winning religion writer for the Washington Post, had a spot-on response to Coppins’ report.
“What's the evidence that conservative Christians support Trump because of his attitude towards THEM,” Boorstein asked on Twitter, “vs. his willingness to advance his policy priorities?”
“Exactly,” replied John Daniel Davidson, political editor for The Federalist. “Most conservative Christians couldn't care less what Trump thinks about them.”
Which is why, it seems to me, his policies and his nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court (more on that in a moment) matter more to his base than anything he might say.
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One obvious update: Generally, I put the finishing touches on this column on Thursday night.
That was the case this week, so I wrote and scheduled “Weekend Plug-in” before President Donald Trump revealed early Friday morning that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. As The Associated Press put it, the “stunning announcement … plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.”
Christianity Today’s Kate Shellnutt reports that pastors and ministry leaders immediately “encouraged Americans that this was a time to pray for the president and the country regardless of their political stances.”
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. For conservative Christian women, Amy Coney Barrett’s success is personal: The Supreme Court nominee’s traditional Catholic faith is, as we pointed out last week, a major point of contention.
“Sigh,” tweeted conservative commentator and Never Trumper David French, complaining about an Associated Press story on Barrett’s ties to a charismatic Christian group. “The number of stories that are some version of ‘Gasp! Traditional mainstream Christian appointed to the Supreme Court’ is already too many.”
However, this story by New York Times religion writer Ruth Graham actually reports from the perspective of conservative Christian women. Interestingly, the first woman quoted loves the choice of Barrett but, according to Graham, “has little personal affection for Mr. Trump."
CONTINUE READING “Do Christians Care What Trump Says About Them Behind Closed Doors?”, by Bobby Ross Jr., for Religion Unplugged.