As of Monday night, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight pegs Donald Trump’s average approval rating at 42 percent. Even at this early stage, any elected official with approval ratings that bad would be in very serious danger. But in all likelihood, the only reason Trump is doing that well is because of the religious right. Trump is consistently polling at around 73 to 78 percent support from white evangelicals–meaning that he has held on to most of the 81 percent of white evangelicals who backed him in November.
So how is it possible for fundies to back Trump at almost double the rate of the rest of the nation? Well, it turns out that a sizable number of religious right leaders have sold their followers on a completely different version of Trump. In so doing, they have continued to enable him much as they did when the “Access Hollywood” tapes came out.
So without further adieu, roll credits for Trump’s loudest fundie backers.
Jim Bakker
The man who was the stereotype of televangelist excess in the 1980s has found a new calling–as one of the loudest fundie voices for Trump. A few weeks after Trump’s upset victory, he warned that any counties who voted for Hillary Clinton would pay a stiff price for going against “the will of God.” A month later, he claimed that the devil and his minions were pulling out all the stops to derail Trump–and the talk about Russia hacking the election was just a demonic trick.
Bakker and his wife, Lori, were on hand for the inauguration. They stuck around for the Women’s March, and are convinced the women who came to Washington did so under the influence of demons. After all, to hear him talk, if you don’t support Trump, you probably need a demon cast out of you. For good measure, he believes that if you oppose Trump, you’re taking direction from jihadists as well as the devil.
Rick Joyner
This self-proclaimed prophet was one of Trump’s earliest fundie supporters, and hasn’t let up since the inauguration. He’s frequently taken to Facebook proudly sporting a “Make America Great Again” cap. For instance, he claimed the Women’s March was driven by the “Jezebel spirit”–a spirit of witchcraft. Why? The “rage” and “wrath” from many of the marchers. Hmmm, I thought it was because a man who lost the popular vote by over 3 million votes is in the White House.
He has since warned his followers that the devil himself is behind the resistance to Trump. To those Christians who regret voting for Trump, he has a warning–you risk getting “smacked” by God if you dare to “smack” Trump.
Lance Wallnau
Wallnau is the main theoritician behind the “Seven Mountains” strategy–the idea that Christians must take over the “mountains” of business, academia, media, entertainment, family, religion, and government in order to bring Jesus back. He was an early supporter of Trump, in part because he thought he had a “mantle” to win and would give Christians unprecedented influence over the culture.
But Wallnau is convinced that the devil isn’t impressed with this. He believes that the “progressive spirit” has a desire to “control and intimidate, manipulate”–just like the spirit of witchcraft. That spirit was supposedly on display at the Women’s March, and is still raging now. He claims that the media is driving that spirit as well, in part because most of those who oppose Trump don’t have a proper “filter” on their brain. That is, a true follower of Jesus would be bowing before Trump.
To that end, he has urged his followers to pray for the tables to be turned on Trump’s foes, and has organized an “underground” movement of hyperfundie “ninja sheep” who are committed to taking over the country. Like Joyner, he has a warning for any evangelicals who are having second thoughts about Trump–those who resist Trump are actually resisting God.
There are other fundies trying to warn the nation against opposing Trump–and offering equally feeble explanations. Franklin Graham, for instance, claims that God himself hacked the election for Trump. Pat Robertson says that those who oppose Trump oppose God’s plan for this country. However, Bakker, Joyner, and Wallnau stand out in their steadfast loyalty to the Orange Calf.
Keep this on file, folks. When–not if–Trump goes down, the religious right “leaders” who enabled him must go down with him. After all, their failure to throw Trump overboard after the “Access Hollywood” tapes came out showed just how bankrupt they are. And their continued attempt to sell Trump as God’s chosen president is all the more reason why we must persist and resist.
(featured image: screengrab from YouTube)
