Evangelical authors cast Trump as raised by disciplining, pre-Spock parents

Evidence

Having established Trump’s Scottish and Viking virility, Brody and Lamb turned their attention to his childhood. Of key interest here was whether or not young Donald had been “a Spock baby.” Had his parents been influenced by Benjamin Spock’s rejection of “rules, regulations, schedules, and spankings?” Although they lacked direct evidence, Brody and Lamb did not lack certainty: “In a word: No. Sure, a copy of the book might have found its way into the Trump household, but ‘newfangled parenting methods’ is not the way anyone who knew Fred and Mary Anne describes their style of parenting. They were old school.” They were parents who dared to discipline. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 609

Categorization

• XREF: Spock was a recurring foil in the book’s earlier chapters on parental discipline debates within evangelical parenting culture. — connects to: Evangelicals fabricated martial ancestry for Trump to validate his masculine authority — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 608
• QUESTION: Worth chasing how the ‘Spock baby’ question maps onto the actual focus on authority and discipline in earlier chapters.
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Evangelicals fabricated martial ancestry for Trump to validate his masculine authority — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 608