Evangelical leaders defended Trump’s moral scandals as a political trade-off for cultural power.

Evidence

Knowing that “evangelical” support for Trump is more explicitly about Christian nationalism helps make sense of these trends. It also helps us understand the rhetoric of Trump’s most vocal evangelical supporters. For instance, in early 2018 the news broke that right before the 2016 election, Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, was paid $130,000 to stay silent about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006, four months after Trump’s wife Melania gave birth to their son. Responding to these allegations of lurid affairs and hush-money payoffs, the Reverend Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, defended Trump. Admitting that he did not want Trump to be “pastor of this nation,” he stressed, “But I appreciate the fact that [Trump] does have a concern for Christian values, he does have a concern to protect Christians.” And, he added, “I appreciate the fact that he protects religious liberty and freedom.” Tony Perkins, former politician and head of The Family Research Council—a powerful evangelical lobbying group—also defended Trump, declaring that he and other conservative Christians were giving Trump a “mulligan” on these and other past sins. His justification was telling. “[Conservative Christians] were tired of getting kicked around by Barack Obama and his leftists. And I think they are finally glad that there’s somebody on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.” Asked about “turning the other cheek,” Perkins replied, “You know, we only have two cheeks. Look, Christianity is not all about being a welcome mat which people can just stomp their feet on.” — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 230

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to work showing religious hypocrisy/perceived persecution dynamics as group power maintenance. — connects to: Prominent evangelical leaders publicly opposed Trump over his moral character — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 598; Evangelical leaders redefined Trump’s religious ignorance as forgivable infancy — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 588; Evangelicals presented Trump’s cinematic moral clarity as authentic masculinity — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 613 (+4 more)
• CANDY: Perkins’s ‘we only have two cheeks’ line is a darkly comic, tweetable quotable on weaponized victimhood.

Broader Connections

• Prominent evangelical leaders publicly opposed Trump over his moral character #contradicts (1.00) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 598
• Evangelical leaders defended Trump by recasting the tape as trivial compared to Clinton #exemplifies (0.90) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 597
• Evangelical leaders redefined Trump’s religious ignorance as forgivable infancy #expands (0.85) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 588
• Evangelicals presented Trump’s cinematic moral clarity as authentic masculinity #expands (0.85) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 613
• Evangelical culture had long valued rugged, ruthless male leadership like Trump’s #expands (0.80) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 617