Deplorable. Fake Christians:
When Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott returned Wednesday to Iowa, he met privately with a group of pastors at a Cedar Rapids church.
For someone considering a presidential campaign, the visit is part of a decades-old courtship ritual in the state that kicks off the GOP nomination process. Born-again Christians are the most influential group in Iowa's Republican caucuses, giving faith leaders particular sway in helping organize voters and shape the results.
But in the early phase of the next presidential campaign, Scott's joyful proclamations of his Christian faith face an unlikely obstacle. Like other Republicans eyeing the White House, he is navigating an evangelical community that is faithful to former President Donald Trump, the thrice-married former reality television star who once supported abortion rights and spent decades boasting of his sexual prowess.
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That history repelled many Iowa evangelical leaders during the last competitive Republican caucuses in 2016, when they helped push Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to victory in the opening contest over Trump. As the 2024 campaign begins, however, many of those same leaders are open to Trump, grateful for his judicial appointments that resulted in the dismantling of a constitutional right to abortion.
They are unswayed by the controversy swirling around Trump, including the 34-count New York felony indictment handed down against him last week stemming from a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who alleged having an extramarital affair with him. Trump denies such an affair.
“I believe, and I think many evangelical Christians understand, politics at that level is a blood sport. Donald Trump is fighting. That’s why he got things done,” said the Rev. Terry Amann of suburban Des Moines. “So our role isn’t to judge him.”
Trump has characterized the charges — along with ongoing investigations in Georgia and Washington — as politically motivated. But the evangelical support reflects a broader dynamic taking hold with the GOP base rallying around Trump, amid signals he could be vulnerable with the broader public in a general election.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released last weekend found 50 percent of Americans thought Trump should have been charged with a crime and about as many — 48 percent — said he should suspend his campaign. But just 14 percent of Republicans said he should be charged.
That GOP loyalty to Trump was evident in interviews with more than a dozen Iowa pastors in the wake of his indictment. Each cited Trump's role in helping overturn Roe v. Wade as central to the rethinking about him since his first campaign. Several also pointed to Trump's recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
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“I appreciate the fact that, for what seems like the first time in my lifetime, someone did what they said they were going to do,” said the Rev. Kerry Jech of Marshalltown. “With Donald Trump, what he promised us, he delivered on. That’s one thing I can’t get away from."
th state Rep. Bill Gustoff, right, at the Statehouse in Des Moines. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In a new display of pragmatism, Jech and others like him who didn't support Trump in 2016 say the former president is no less imperfect a man now, but that his action on policy they hold dear may erase questions about his moral character.
During the 2016 campaign, the Rev. Mike Demastus of Des Moines supported Cruz and called Trump “morally loathsome,” “wicked” and “a reprehensible man." Today, Demastus calls him “the most pro-life president we have ever had,” and would consider supporting him in the caucuses, along with others.
In a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Trump was viewed favorably by 58 percent of evangelicals, unfavorably by 39 percent and 3 percent were unsure. On the eve of the 2016 caucuses, Iowa evangelicals seemed to have a dimmer view of Trump. The Iowa Poll taken on the eve of the caucuses showed Trump with support from only 19 percent of evangelicals, with Cruz supported by 33 percent.
The awkward position is new for Iowa social conservatives, who have for three consecutive Republican presidential campaigns decidedly backed the more vocally evangelical candidate, though none would go on to win the nomination.
Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence hope to replicate the success of those candidates in 2024, should they continue taking steps toward running. Scott began his day in Iowa Wednesday meeting with Christian home-school parents.
It's a strategy pioneered by former Christian broadcasting personality Pat Robertson, whose focus on Iowa's network of evangelical Christian churches helped him finish a surprise second place in Iowa's 1988 caucuses, ahead of George H.W. Bush.
The first multicandidate gathering of the 2024 Iowa caucus campaign is scheduled for later this month and is expected to feature presidential prospects Pence, Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and others speaking to hundreds of Iowa social conservatives. Trump plans to address the group by video.
The more traditional approach set against Trump's atypical combination of accomplishment and high-drama personal life creates a new dynamic in Iowa.
“President Trump has stood up for the values that we hold dear,” said Brad Sherman, a pastor and Republican state representative from Williamsburg who plans to support Trump in the caucuses. “Then we need to pray for him that his personal life comes in line with that.”
www.thegazette.com
When Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott returned Wednesday to Iowa, he met privately with a group of pastors at a Cedar Rapids church.
For someone considering a presidential campaign, the visit is part of a decades-old courtship ritual in the state that kicks off the GOP nomination process. Born-again Christians are the most influential group in Iowa's Republican caucuses, giving faith leaders particular sway in helping organize voters and shape the results.
But in the early phase of the next presidential campaign, Scott's joyful proclamations of his Christian faith face an unlikely obstacle. Like other Republicans eyeing the White House, he is navigating an evangelical community that is faithful to former President Donald Trump, the thrice-married former reality television star who once supported abortion rights and spent decades boasting of his sexual prowess.
Advertisement
That history repelled many Iowa evangelical leaders during the last competitive Republican caucuses in 2016, when they helped push Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to victory in the opening contest over Trump. As the 2024 campaign begins, however, many of those same leaders are open to Trump, grateful for his judicial appointments that resulted in the dismantling of a constitutional right to abortion.
They are unswayed by the controversy swirling around Trump, including the 34-count New York felony indictment handed down against him last week stemming from a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who alleged having an extramarital affair with him. Trump denies such an affair.
“I believe, and I think many evangelical Christians understand, politics at that level is a blood sport. Donald Trump is fighting. That’s why he got things done,” said the Rev. Terry Amann of suburban Des Moines. “So our role isn’t to judge him.”
Trump has characterized the charges — along with ongoing investigations in Georgia and Washington — as politically motivated. But the evangelical support reflects a broader dynamic taking hold with the GOP base rallying around Trump, amid signals he could be vulnerable with the broader public in a general election.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released last weekend found 50 percent of Americans thought Trump should have been charged with a crime and about as many — 48 percent — said he should suspend his campaign. But just 14 percent of Republicans said he should be charged.
That GOP loyalty to Trump was evident in interviews with more than a dozen Iowa pastors in the wake of his indictment. Each cited Trump's role in helping overturn Roe v. Wade as central to the rethinking about him since his first campaign. Several also pointed to Trump's recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.
On Iowa Politics
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“I appreciate the fact that, for what seems like the first time in my lifetime, someone did what they said they were going to do,” said the Rev. Kerry Jech of Marshalltown. “With Donald Trump, what he promised us, he delivered on. That’s one thing I can’t get away from."
th state Rep. Bill Gustoff, right, at the Statehouse in Des Moines. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
In a new display of pragmatism, Jech and others like him who didn't support Trump in 2016 say the former president is no less imperfect a man now, but that his action on policy they hold dear may erase questions about his moral character.
During the 2016 campaign, the Rev. Mike Demastus of Des Moines supported Cruz and called Trump “morally loathsome,” “wicked” and “a reprehensible man." Today, Demastus calls him “the most pro-life president we have ever had,” and would consider supporting him in the caucuses, along with others.
In a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Trump was viewed favorably by 58 percent of evangelicals, unfavorably by 39 percent and 3 percent were unsure. On the eve of the 2016 caucuses, Iowa evangelicals seemed to have a dimmer view of Trump. The Iowa Poll taken on the eve of the caucuses showed Trump with support from only 19 percent of evangelicals, with Cruz supported by 33 percent.
The awkward position is new for Iowa social conservatives, who have for three consecutive Republican presidential campaigns decidedly backed the more vocally evangelical candidate, though none would go on to win the nomination.
Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence hope to replicate the success of those candidates in 2024, should they continue taking steps toward running. Scott began his day in Iowa Wednesday meeting with Christian home-school parents.
It's a strategy pioneered by former Christian broadcasting personality Pat Robertson, whose focus on Iowa's network of evangelical Christian churches helped him finish a surprise second place in Iowa's 1988 caucuses, ahead of George H.W. Bush.
The first multicandidate gathering of the 2024 Iowa caucus campaign is scheduled for later this month and is expected to feature presidential prospects Pence, Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and others speaking to hundreds of Iowa social conservatives. Trump plans to address the group by video.
The more traditional approach set against Trump's atypical combination of accomplishment and high-drama personal life creates a new dynamic in Iowa.
“President Trump has stood up for the values that we hold dear,” said Brad Sherman, a pastor and Republican state representative from Williamsburg who plans to support Trump in the caucuses. “Then we need to pray for him that his personal life comes in line with that.”
Trump and Iowa evangelicals: A bond hard to break
Born-again Christians are the most influential group in Iowa's Republican caucuses, giving faith leaders particular sway in helping organize voters and shape the results.
www.thegazette.com
