Book: Trump Called Evangelicals "Pieces of Shit"

Anyone who has followed Donald Trump over the years knows - or surely ought to know by now - that he shows no loyalty to anyone.  It is only about him 24/7 and only fools would give loyalty and pledge fealty to Trump and expect any loyalty in return from Trump. Trump views members of the military who have lost their lives or been severely injured while serving their country "losers."   Now, as a new book reveals, Trump has called evangelicals - to whom he promised the moon to win their votes -  "so-called Christians" and "pieces of shit" who he views as useful idiots to be used in achieving his megalomaniacal goals.    Yet these evangelicals - typically among the least educated (and, I would argue, gullible) religious group in America - continue to rally to Trump's standard even as he views them as fools only too happy to be duped by Trump's lies and pandering. Meanwhile, they continue to destroy the Christian brand by showing their hypocrisy through their support of a totally immoral Trump and lack of any true following of Christ's gospel message.  A piece in The Guardian looks at Trump's true view of evangelicals which may well again bubble to the surface in light of  Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader and extreme homophobe in Iowa, endorsement of Ron DeSantis. Only time will tell whether evangelicals continue to allow themselves to be played as fools.  Here are article excerpts:

In the heat of the Republican primary of 2016, Donald Trump called evangelical supporters of his rival Ted Cruz “so-called Christians” and “real pieces of shit”, a new book says.

The news lands as the 2024 Republican primary heats up, two months out from the Iowa caucus and a day after Trump’s closest rival this time, the hard-right Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, was endorsed by Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader in Iowa.

The new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta, an influential reporter and staff writer for the Atlantic, will be published on 5 December. The Guardian obtained a copy.

Early in the book, Alberta describes fallout from an event at Liberty University, the evangelical college in Virginia, shortly before the Iowa vote in January 2016.

As candidates jockeyed for support from evangelicals, a powerful bloc in any Republican election, Trump was asked to name his favourite Bible verse.

Attempting to follow the advice of Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, the thrice-married, not noticeably church-going New York billionaire and reality TV star introduced it as “Two Corinthians”, rather than “Second Corinthians”, as would have been correct.

“The laughter and ridicule were embarrassing enough for Trump,” Alberta writes. “But the news of Perkins endorsing Ted Cruz, just a few days later, sent him into a spiral. . . . “When Cruz’s allies began using the ‘Two Corinthians’ line to attack him in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump told one Iowa Republican official, ‘You know, these so-called Christians hanging around with Ted are some real pieces of shit.’”

Alberta adds that “in private over the coming years”, Trump “would use even more colourful language to describe the evangelical community”.

Pursuing the lie that his defeat was the result of electoral fraud, Trump refused to concede defeat. He has continued to dominate Republican politics, now as the clear frontrunner to be the nominee again.

Trump has maintained that status despite having been impeached twice (the second for inciting the deadly January 6 attack on Congress) and despite facing 91 criminal charges (34 for hush-money payments to a porn star) and civil threats including a case arising from a rape allegation a judge called “substantially true”.

Evangelicals remain the dominant bloc in Iowa, 55% of respondents to an NBC News/Des Moines Register poll in August identifying as “devoutly religious”. But despite his lengthy rap sheet, Trump’s hold on such voters appears to remain strong.

In October, the Register put him at 43% support overall in Iowa, with DeSantis and the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley 27 points behind. The same poll said 44% of evangelicals planned to make Trump their first choice, with DeSantis at 22% and Haley seven points back.

Speaking to Fox News, Vander Plaats said: “I don’t think America is going to elect [Trump] president again. I think America would be well served to have a choice, and I really believe Ron DeSantis should be that guy. And I think Iowa is tailor-made for him to win this.”

Trump’s rivals may yet take encouragement from Register polling, should evangelicals begin to doubt Trump. In the October poll, 76% of Iowa evangelicals said they had a positive view of DeSantis, while 62% said they liked Haley.