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Trump, despite his impieties, wins the hearts of evangelicals

 
Published Feb. 28, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY — It is one of the prime paradoxes of the 2016 election: A twice-divorced candidate who has flaunted his adultery, praised Planned Parenthood and admitted to never asking for God's forgiveness is the favorite of the Christian right.

The candidate, Donald Trump, who won with evangelical voters in South Carolina and has their support in other Bible Belt states like Oklahoma that will vote in primaries Tuesday, has dominated the Republican campaign by appealing to the economically disenfranchised. But the promise of a Trump presidency that would gall the political elites also is resonating with the culturally disenfranchised, including many conservative Christians.

Trump's success with evangelicals, who constitute the largest Republican blocs in six Southern states voting Tuesday, poses a mortal threat to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose campaign is built on these voters. Cruz will face nearly insurmountable odds if he fails to carry more than his home state on Super Tuesday, with the race afterward moving to less favorable territory.

Trump's appeal with the religious right is debunking some long-held maxims about evangelical voters, showing that they are not monolithic; that they do not fall neatly in step with evangelical leaders, many of whom endorsed Cruz; and that within evangelical ranks lie fault lines of class and culture.

"Social conservatives are taking a look at Trump and saying he's not with me on all these issues, but the overall larger imperative for us is to tear down this system that has not served us for a very long time," said Gregg Keller, a former executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which was founded by the Christian conservative Ralph Reed.

In speeches, including one in Oklahoma City on Friday, Trump almost never talks about issues that politicians seeking evangelical support thunder about: abortion, religious liberty and, recently, the appointment of a conservative Supreme Court justice.

Practically the only part of a Trump stump speech aimed at faith-driven voters is a pledge that shopkeepers will again be able to say Merry Christmas. It is one of his most reliable applause lines.

Trump is winning with evangelicals, as he does with other Republican primary voters, by promising uncompromising immigration and trade policies and a hard-driving leadership style. "Evangelicals see all that's going down, and they just like somebody to be strong and stern and consistent on issues," said J. Hogan Gidley, who was a senior adviser to Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and onetime Baptist pastor, before Huckabee quit the race.