Chances Are, He’s Not Your President, Either
I believe there is a lot more common ground between Trump voters and his detractors (and I admit “detractors” is a mild word for it) than generally believed. Many of us shared and continue to share alarm about the state of the economy, and the feeling that to continue this way is unsustainable. (The loss of manufacturing turned us into a service economy, but the last time I went to the movies, it seemed like one usher was running the entire theater). A vote for Hillary was, arguably, a vote for the status quo, with no light at the end of the tunnel. (Hence Bernie’s rise.)
That wasn’t enough to get me to vote for Trump, though no doubt it was for a lot of people. What confounds me now is why more anti-establishment Trump supporters aren’t explicitly concerned, even after only a few weeks. Virtually his every move and appointment has been in line with Republican orthodoxy. (The silence regarding his touted infrastructure program should be a warning bell to every one of his working-class voters.) But even moreso, he’s done nothing to cross his real base: evangelical Christians. And he won’t.
Almost everything he’s done since taking office has been a nod to evangelical Christian supporters (E.C.’s, from now on, for short.) Barring travel from Muslim countries warmed their hearts, as they see themselves in a religious war with Islam. And to seal the point, Trump specifically promised to give priority to Christian refugees.
His plan to move the U.S embassy to Jerusalem and his blunt support of the hard-line in Israel are other examples; E.C.’s see Israel as the flashpoint for the coming Armageddon; the faster the situation spirals downward the sooner they get Raptured.
The E.C.’s made a devil’s bargain in supporting Trump, of course. Anybody with eyes and ears knows he has never shared any of their beliefs or values — but they could trust him to pander to them: with an anti-abortion Supreme Court pick, and, eventually, (he’ll get around to it), an end to gay marriage. (If you think he won’t based on his previous statements — of all things — then I can’t help you.) (And it’s hard for me not to see the revocation of transgender rights as a nod to this.)
He doesn’t look a lot like Jesus, but neither does their Jesus. The E.C.’s have become, more than anything else, a coalition centered around a set of right-wing political beliefs, which they back up with cherry-picked Biblical references.
Trump needed this coalition enough (as all Republicans do) that he had to pretend to be one of them (all evidence to the contrary), and still he’s pretending, sometimes slyly, with a wink and a nod, because without them he’s just the self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing huckster he used to be.
Just today (Feb. 24), Trump vowed to energetically fight the “epidemic” of human trafficking. Well, who could argue with that? But why that? And why now? And why haven’t we heard more about this before? Because a few years ago “sex trafficking” became a cause of the Christian right. Most studies believe the numbers to be inflated, because the E.C.’s consider all prostitution enslavement. (Google “Christians and Sex Trafficking.”) I don’t know how legitimate this movement is — but neither does Trump. There is, though, a large, fervent group of Americans who have his ear. And his obedience.