Why do conservative Christians like Donald Trump?
It’s a question that has stumped pollsters, religion scholars, journalists, and pundits throughout this U.S. presidential election cycle. At first, some self-described evangelicals were skeptical of Trump, especially those who regularly attend church. But as of this summer, an estimated 94 percent of Republicans who identify as evangelicals say they’d support Trump over Clinton, with very little difference in the level of support among those who go to church every week and those who don’t.
Many explanations have been tossed around for this ironic alliance between the thrice-married, philandering casino mogul and some of America’s most socially conservative Christians: It’s about Supreme Court justices or religious liberty orloss of cultural power or anger. But there’s another recurrent theme in the way some Christian leaders have praised Trump: He’s a businessman. This was the explanation the Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. offered when he endorsed the Republican nominee, for example: “At this stage in our history, I believe we need an experienced and successful businessman who has fixed broken companies,” he said in a Washington Post op-ed in January. His nod came while Ted Cruz, a vocal proponent of conservative evangelicals, was still in the race.
Perhaps a strain of “Christian libertarianism” is coming back in American politics, showing up in a push to have government “run like a business” and a sense of anxiety about individual religious liberty being trampled by changing social mores. Kruse and I spoke about the possible connection between Trump’s rise and this old strain of pro-individualism among some conservative Christians. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Emma Green: Have there been particular moments in recent months when the language used by religious conservatives to praise Donald Trump or condemn Hillary Clinton has stuck out to you?
What was the quote recently? “God has used worse people.” That’s the attitude: It’s that he’ll be an instrument to create change, and that’s what really matters.
Green: Talk about the connection between the prosperity gospel—a set of theological teachings that say prosperity is a sign of God’s blessing—and the political alignment of corporate leaders and ministers that you describe in your book.
Kruse: The first strand is an old one. You can look at the way in which Christians, Protestants, have seen personal success as a sign of God’s work.
The real political linkage is one that comes about through these corporate leaders in the 1930s, who are looking for someone to push back against the New Deal. When their own efforts fall flat, they go looking for ministers to make the case for them. They come together around a common set of values: They see the New Deal and the labor unions’ power as forces of “pagan statism.” Through that common enemy, they make an argument that Christianity and capitalism are one and the same.
In my book, I talk about James Fifield, who argues quite explicitly that both the systems are based on individual salvation. In his telling, a good Christian goes to heaven; a bad one goes to hell. A good capitalist makes profit, a bad one goes to the poorhouse. In both systems, individuals rise on their own merits.