Man, between the battle for speaker of the House, the George Santos soap opera, and the Lauren Boebert-Marjorie Taylor Greene cage match (available on pay-per-view, check your local listings), we Republicans do enjoy a good donnybrook these days, don’t we? But of course, nothing will compare to the Trump-DeSantis matchup coming up in 2024. Also known as the Thrilla in Vanilla. Sorry, that was racist of me, wasn’t it? It was a joke–let’s move on.
There is no word yet on who is on the undercard, but now would be the time to get in touch with your local sports book. We already know that Trump is running and that he is doing better after his disastrous outing in the critically panned “My Dinner with Kanye.”
Trump is facing some battles during his third bid for the Oval Office, and we aren’t talking about Joe Biden, who could easily be replaced with his audio-animatronic from Disney’s Hall of Presidents. Come to think of it, that might even be an upgrade. And we aren’t talking about CNN and the rest of the Greek Chorus that routinely describe Trump and the prospect of a second term in mournful, passive-aggressive tones while the “Song of the Volga Boatmen” or, alternately, “O Fortuna” plays in the background.
No, in the face of DeSantis, who has shown how involved he is in advancing conservative values and shows no fear in taking on the Big Left establishment, Trump needs to shore up his base. Loyalty matters to Trump. He recently called out evangelical Christians who he sees as abandoning him as the 2024 contest draws nigh. Oh, who are we kidding? The 2024 contest is here.
Here is a clip from a call-in Trump did on Real America’s Voice recently:
Trump does make a point that if it were not for his judicial appointments, the Dobbs decision would have turned out much differently. And one can also understand his disconnect over the fact that the demographic that supported him so vehemently in the past is now thinking about taking its business elsewhere. But at the same time, while touting his pro-life bona fides, Trump also slammed evangelicals for not handling the abortion issue correctly in terms of being too heavy-handed while also saying that GOP voters did not do enough to support pro-life conservative candidates. Apparently, Trump is mad that conservatives did not find the “sweet spot” when it comes to abortion. And there is some truth to that. While I support the right to life, it could be argued that some conservatives got out over their skis in the wake of Dobbs, turning off some middle-of-the-road voters.
In the television exchange and in an article in The Christian Post, the point is raised that Trump no longer has the backing of Robert Jeffress, who is the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. Jeffress has said that he has no desire to be a part of a “Republican civil war.”
I have said this before and will say it again: As an ex-evangelical, I can tell you that despite what the MSM says, evangelicals are not all of one mind. Some are and will remain die-hard Trump loyalists. Some of them may be vocal while others may play their cards closer to the vest. Still others may drift between supporting Trump on some issues while wanting to distance themselves from his abrasive style and maybe even from the J6 debacle. I know of evangelicals who are stridently opposed to much of the Biden agenda while simultaneously supporting illegal immigration and even LGBTQ issues. I know, it’s complicated.
Even more of them nervously avoid politics so as to not put off inquirers and potential converts. Some view church as a sanctuary and a place to escape the rigors of the modern world, and perhaps wait out the Second Coming. And, of course, the evangelical movement has seen an increase in progressive thinkers and theologians who by definition are at loggerheads with Trump. In short, there is no way to tell what any given evangelical is thinking on any given day. They can be as diverse as any group out there and can be more thoughtful than most will give them credit for being.
Related: Miami Herald Warns That Christian Rhetoric Could ‘Mobilize Fringe Mobs’
Ultimately, as a watcher of faith issues, I attribute the evangelical migration from the Trump camp to a matter of pragmatism. Conservatives, not just evangelicals, are interested in a candidate they believe can deliver in the aggregate. And even if Jeffress is right and some sort of GOP reckoning is on the horizon, conflict is not necessarily a bad thing in a republic.
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