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The president's stunt last night—with its mix of shallow credal signaling and brutish force—was emblematic of his appeal to the religious right.

My story: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
White conservative Christians don’t want piety from this president; they want power. In Trump, they see a champion who will restore them to their rightful place at the center of American life, while using his terrible swift sword to punish their enemies.

theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
"It was completely appropriate for the president to stand in front of that church. And by holding up the Bible, he was showing us...it teaches that, yes, God hates racism, it’s despicable—but God also hates lawlessness,” Robert Jeffress told me last night: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Ralph Reed: Trump "sent the twin message that our streets and cities do not belong to rioters and domestic terrorists, and that the ultimate answer to what ails our country can be found in the repentance, redemption, and forgiveness of the Christian faith" theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Clemson sociologist @ndrewwhitehead attributes certain attitudes in Trump's religious base to Christian nationalism: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
He didn’t open the Bible he was brandishing, because he had no use for its text. He didn’t go inside the church he was using as a backdrop, because he had no interest in a sermon. To Trump, these aren't symbols of faith; they're weapons of culture war. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
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McKay Coppins
@mckaycoppins
I haven't been to church since March and won't be going back for a while. But I think the current Twitter discourse would benefit from a bit more charity and understanding from those telling people of faith they must forego this part of their lives indefinitely.
Love it when someone cartwheels into the mentions to immediately prove your point
I don't want churches recklessly reopened either. And the performative culture-warring from all the usual suspects who are cynically seizing on this issue is exhausting. There's no point in trying to engage with that.
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McKay Coppins
@mckaycoppins
A question I would like to see more politicians/journalists/Twitter pundits/people in general answer: What have you been most wrong about when it comes to the coronavirus?

(Bonus points for things you’ve been *publicly* wrong about—things you’ve written, tweeted, etc.)
I’ll start: I had a hard time early on comprehending that the US would get to the point where COVID was killing thousands/day

I also thought overwhelmed hospitals would be a much bigger problem (though of course they *have* been a problem in some places)
(I also though my brother-in-law, who came down from Manhattan to stay with us in mid-March, would be here for a couple of weeks, not two months, but that was more of a personal prediction.)
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McKay Coppins
@mckaycoppins
I see a lot of chest-thumping like this from the anti-anti-Trump crowd, and I have some questions. "Allowed" by whom? "Participate" how? What kind of loyalty test to a defeated one-term president will Republicans have to pass to have a seat at the table?
I have no idea what will happen in November (or after). But Trump won the 2016 GOP nomination while trashing the previous Republican president on the campaign trail. Things change in politics! Not convinced all Republicans who oppose Trump will be sidelined forever.
(Of course, there's a broader discussion to be had about how much influence any DC strategists/pundits—pro-Trump, anti-Trump, and in between—will have on the future of the GOP. But that goes beyond the current moment.)
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