Evangelicals supporting Trump isn't a phenomenon. It's a result of sections of American Christianity being radicalized into white identity groups that have been told for decades they're living in the End Times by leaders and politicians who want to mobilize their support.
Many of these people have been taught to believe liberals represent Satan, it was a consistent rumor that Obama was the Antichrist. This doesn’t get talked about because many find it ludicrous, but, listen, it’s part of this mess.
If you want to understand this, look at the demographics, what’s happening in rural America, church attendance, the Satanic Panic, televangelism, End Times mania in the 1980’s, and Reagan. It’s a simple, simple puzzle that any ex-evangelical knows pretty well.
Another aspect of this, and you see this with Christians saying “I don’t recognize my religion anymore,” originates from these pockets of people, many poor, many rural, being overlooked. This trend has been there for decades. It wasn’t hiding at all.
What’s most blatant is the leaders accepting Trump and this trend, but they’re been fostering it for forever. Republicans stoked those flames to win elections. Trump makes the hypocrisy obvious, like he does with everything, but this isn’t anything new or novel.
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