Former President Donald J. Trump, long known for his impromptu and erratic stage performances, now tends to end his rallies on a somber note.
Soft, reflective music fills the venue as the audience falls silent. Mr. Trump's tone has become reverent and sombre, causing some supporters to bow their heads or close their eyes. Some people hold their palms up to the sky or murmur as if praying.
At this moment, Mr. Trump's audience is his fellow believers and their pastors, during a roughly 15-minute finale in which Mr. Trump evokes an evangelical altar call. This is a moving tradition that concludes a Christian service in which those in attendance come forward and pledge to: their savior.
“The great silent majority is rising like never before under our leadership,” he reads from a typical script from a teleprompter. “We pray to God for our strength and freedom. We pray for God and with God. We are one movement under God, one people, one family; One glorious nation.”
This meditative ritual may seem at odds with the tumultuous epicenter of the nation's conservative movement, but Mr. Trump's political beliefs are a sign of his efforts to turn the Republican Party into a kind of Trump church. One of the most notable examples. His insistence on absolute dedication and loyalty can be seen at every level of the party, from Congress to the Republican National Committee to the rank-and-file voters.
Mr. Trump's ability to transform his supporters' passions into piety has led his party to repeated political failures, and how he remains in the debate despite facing dozens of felonies in four criminal cases. This is critical to understanding how the Republican Party remains a leader without room. His success in portraying these charges as persecution and baselessly warning that his followers could be targeted next increased enthusiasm for his candidacy and helped him regain control of the White House. I put myself in a position where I could do it.
“He is definitely God's chosen man.”
Trump has long defied conventional wisdom as an unlikely but irrefutable evangelical hero.
He has been married three times, repeatedly accused of sexual assault and convicted of corporate fraud, but has never shown any interest in church services. Last week, days before Easter, he posted an infomercial-style poster on his social media platforms promoting a $60 Bible that included portions of the founding documents and lyrics to Lee Greenwood's song “God Bless the USA.” posted a video.
But while Mr. Trump is keen to maintain the support of evangelical voters and portray the presidential race as a battle for the soul of the nation, he has largely been careful not to speak directly in messianic terms.
“There is a savior in this country,” Trump said in 2021 from the pulpit of Dallas' First Baptist Church, which has more than 14,000 members. “It's not me. It's someone much better than me.” Told.
Still, he and his allies are inching closer to comparison with Christ.
Last year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and ally of President Trump, said both the former president and Jesus were arrested by a “radical and corrupt government.” On Saturday, Trump shared an article on social media with the headline “The Crucifixion of Donald Trump.”
He is also the latest in a long line of Republican presidents and presidential candidates who have prioritized evangelical voters. But many conservative Christian voters believe that Trump has outperformed his predecessor, particularly pointing to his installation of a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that overturned federal abortion rights. I believe that I have contributed to our benefit.
Although Trump won an overwhelming majority of evangelical voters in his first two presidential elections, few at the rally explicitly compare him to Jesus.
Rather, Trumpists see him as a modern-day version of Old Testament heroes like Cyrus and David, handpicked by God to lead a profound mission aimed at achieving overdue justice or resisting existential evil. likely to be described as a morally flawed person.
“He was definitely chosen by God,” said Marie Zehr, a Long Island commercial real estate broker who attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in February outside Washington, D.C. I don't know how to explain it other than divine intervention. ”
For some of Mr. Trump's supporters, the political attacks and legal risks he faces are nothing short of biblical.
“They did a worse crucifixion than Jesus,” said Andrianna Howard, 67, a restaurant food runner in Conway, South Carolina.
Political weapons and vulnerabilities
Mr. Trump's solid and committed core of voters forms one of the most durable forces in American politics, giving him a distinct advantage over President Biden when it comes to motivating his supporters. There is.
According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 48% of Republican primary voters are enthusiastic about Trump becoming the Republican nominee, and 32% are satisfied with the outcome but not enthusiastic. I don't feel it. Only 23% of Democrats say they are enthusiastic about Biden as their nominee, while 43% are satisfied but not enthusiastic.
The enthusiasm of Trump's most ardent supporters is also factored into the former president's campaign decisions, according to two people familiar with internal deliberations. The fact that his team can trust voters to vote with little additional prompting means that some of the money that would have been spent on polling efforts could be diverted to field staff, TV ads or other ways to support Mr. Trump. This means that you can invest in
But he also thinks Democrats have an advantage. Much of Mr. Biden's support comes from voters deeply opposed to Mr. Trump, and the president's advisers have described Mr. Trump's movement as a cult-like movement bent on restricting and undermining abortion rights. He sees an opportunity to scare moderate voters into supporting Biden by making the accusations seem like fiction. Democracy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading Democratic ally of Mr. Biden, said the president's re-election campaign's increasingly aggressive online presence has sought to portray Mr. Trump as did. tending to to religious extremism.
“There's a huge opportunity here,” Newsom said in an interview. “Mr. Trump's definition is very simple, and he emphasizes that definition over and over again. And Biden now has a campaign where he can weaponize that.”
“Does he really care about evangelicals?” I don't know. '
Trump's conflation of politics and religion is by no means a new phenomenon. Christianity has long had a strong influence on the American government, and even as the country becomes more secular, most voters identify as Christian. According to Gallup, in 2022, 68 percent of adults will identify as Christian, down from 91 percent in 1948.
But religious overtones pervade the former president's third presidential campaign as he seeks to establish himself as the only true Republican leader.
The compassionately worded fundraising email in his name promises unconditional love while asking for a donation of just $5.
Even more so than past campaigns, he has positioned his 2024 campaign as a fight for Christianity, saying at a Christian broadcaster convention: “As in past battles, we still need the Lord's hand.'' “There is,” he said.
In recent months, Trump has shared on his social media platforms a sketch of himself sitting next to Jesus in a courtroom and a video in which he repeatedly declares that “God gave us Trump” to lead the country. .
The apparent effectiveness of these tactics makes Trump the first major U.S. politician to successfully separate personality and policy for religious voters, said John Fee, a history professor at Messiah College, an evangelical school in Pennsylvania. He said that it became.
“Trump has a divided personality and policy,” Fee said. “He did it because he was the first to really listen to their complaints and take them seriously. Does he really care about evangelicals? I don't know. But he… We built a message that speaks directly to them.”
Support from local pastors
Trump's rallies have always been a cross between a rock concert and a tent revival. When Trump first started closing his rallies with an ambient tone, many associated them with similar theme music from the QAnon conspiracy movement, but the campaign has distanced itself from that concept.
“President Trump used the end of his speech to draw a sharp contrast to the last four years of Joe Biden's disastrous presidency and set out a vision for getting America back on its feet,” Trump's press secretary Stephen Chan said in a statement. I launched it,” he said. Tracking. “
But the changes helped transform Trump's rallies into more aesthetically church-like experiences.
Mr. Trump's rally in Las Vegas in January began with a prayer from local church elder Jesus Marquez. Quoting the Bible, Marquez declared that God wants Trump back in the White House.
“God is on our side. God is on the side of this movement,” said Marquez, who founded the grassroots group American Christian Caucus.
And at a rally in South Carolina in February, Greg Rodermond, pastor of Crossroads Community Church, prayed for God to intervene with Trump's political opponents, saying they were “not ours.” They are trying to steal, kill, and destroy America.”
“Father, we gather here today in unity to see our country restored to greatness,” Rodermond continued. ”
But some Christian conservatives are loath to join their brethren in paving the way directly from the ornate doors of Mar-a-Lago to the pearly gates of heaven.
Russell Moore, former president of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, said Trump's rallies were marked by a “dangerous” closing altar call and opening prayer, with preachers describing Trump as a God-sent. He said that he had fallen into a “terrible territory.”
“Claiming divine authority or divine support for a political candidate means that you cannot question or oppose that person without contradicting God.” Moore said. “That is a violation of the commandment not to take the name of the Lord in vain.”