Shrugging Off Trump Scandals, Evangelicals Look to Rescue G.O.P.

[DonViejo]

By JEREMY W. PETERS and ELIZABETH DIASAPRIL 24, 2018

WASHINGTON — The conservative Christian coalition that helped usher President Trump into power in 2016 is planning its largest midterm election mobilization ever, with volunteers fanning out from the church pews to the streets to register voters, raise money and persuade conservatives that they cannot afford to be complacent this year.

But the cumulative weight of scandals in Mr. Trump’s private and public life is threatening to overshadow what the religious right sees as its most successful string of policy victories in a generation. And Republicans will be up against not only a resurgent liberal opposition to Mr. Trump but also the historical disadvantages that burden any party in full control of Washington, especially in the first off-year congressional elections of a president’s term.

“The midterms are going to be very, very tough for the Republicans,” said Robert Jeffress, who leads the First Baptist Dallas megachurch and is one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal evangelical supporters.

The vast majority of evangelical Christians are digging in for Mr. Trump, despite accusations by a pornographic film star and a Playboy playmate that he had separate affairs with them shortly after his wife, Melania Trump, gave birth to their son. Those controversies, paired with the multiple women who accused him of groping them before the election and his own boasts of sexual aggressions, have highlighted the unyielding support of a political bloc that once put moral behavior at the center of its political judgment.

“Now even the Christian culture is O.K. with it,” said Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family, one of the nation’s largest evangelical groups. “That’s the sadness,” he added. “The next time a Democrat in the presidency has a moral failure, who’s going to be able to say anything?”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/us/politics/trump-evangelicals-midterm-elections.html

[workinclasszero]

1. This is who the evangelical right wants to rescue

They better rescue themselves. They have zero credibility after siding with the beast in the white house.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Swallow A Camel And Choke On A Gnat We Heard Of It

A lot of us more liberal-minded believers as well as multitudes of the secular-minded have read that verse and seen how it fits you right-wing hypocrites.

[Docreed2003]

3. In their lust for power and implementation of their agenda

They have forsaken any claim they ever had to "morality". Their movement has been incredibly successful in brainwashing their masses for more than 40 years, from rural churches on up to the large mega-churches, that only the GOP represents their version of Christian faith, that Democrats are in opposition to "God", and that "God" is calling them to be an active political force to bring about an american theocracy. That is their goal and they are clearly willing to debase themselves by latching onto Trump if it means more power.

[OneBro]

4. Evangelicals were just kidding about all that Jesus-like, family values stuff.

These right-to-hate people have zero credibility, and their values are Trump values.

[jcgoldie]

5. It's more than just hypocrisy

I've always felt that a major theme of Evangelical Christianity is the subjugation of women. In that sense, support for misogynistic Trump is not just hypocrisy, he's their champion.

[kimbutgar]

6. Will they still support Twitler if it comes out he paid for abortions?

I bet Cohen has some NDAs from women he paid off for Twitler. I can’t wait to see the evangelical white racists heads explode!

[dalton99a]

7. .

[gratuitous]

8. Now the evangelicals are taking credit for Trump's victory

Lots of people wanting to hitch their wagon to that sinking anchor.

Risible, though, that Jim Daly of Focus on the Family seems to think evangelicals are squandering their credibility on moral issues. These are people of strong, immutable, non-negotiable standards that have all the sturdy unyielding structure of a slinky. The next time a Democrat in the White House has what they consider a moral failing, they'll be right there on their high horse Sanctimony to yammer endlessly about it. They'll start on Fox, but it will soon spread to every other big media platform (because it's "out there" and they won't have any choice but to report it). If anyone says, "I seem to recall the evangelicals wink at President Trump's even worse behavior," will be shouted down with the timeless cry of "That was then, this is now," and the media will give these flaming hypocrites boatloads of unearned credibility.

Seen this movie many times before.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Lotsa luck

Few people admire the blatant hypocrisy of these people.