Why Evangelicals Voted for Trump: A Critical Cultural Sociology
The Paradox of White Evangelical Support for Donald Trump
The central inquiry of Philip Gorski’s analysis is why a demographic traditionally focused on ‘family values,’ piety, and humility rallied behind a candidate whose personal history includes six children by three wives, public bragging about sexual assault (‘grabbing’ women), and the claim of never needing divine forgiveness.
For many white evangelicals, Donald Trump was viewed as the ‘lesser of two evils’ compared to Hillary Clinton, a choice based on rational political calculations regarding abortion, the judiciary, and religious liberty.
However, for a plurality of white evangelicals, Trump was not a reluctant choice but a preferred first choice. Gorski argues this is because they are White Christian Nationalists (WCN).
Trumpism is characterized as a reactionary and secularized version of WCN, stripped of traditional Christian ethical tethers but infused with racialized, apocalyptic, and blood-drenched rhetoric.
The ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ Perspective and Rational Choice
Ethnic Diversity in Evangelicalism: Evangelicalism is not a monolith. Roughly of self-declared evangelicals are non-white. Among these, support for Trump was low; approximately of non-white evangelicals supported Hillary Clinton.
The Theological-Political Divide: While Black Protestants share similar theological beliefs with white evangelicals, nearly of them voted for the Democratic candidate, highlighting that the support for Trump was specifically a white evangelical phenomenon.
Internal Opposition: Prominent white evangelical figures spoke out against Trump:
Peter Wehner (Ethics and Public Policy Center) described Trump’s theology as ‘Nietzschean morality’ rather than Christian.
Russell Moore (Southern Baptist Convention) argued that to avoid issues of racial unity, one had to ‘evade the Bible itself.’
Policy Drivers for Reluctant Voters:
Abortion: Trump adopted a strong pro-life stance, while Clinton supported Planned Parenthood and federal funding for abortion rights.
The Supreme Court: The death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016 made the court's balance a primary election issue. Republicans sought to overturn Roe v. Wade, a goal advanced by the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch.
Religious Freedom: Conservatives felt besieged by the legalization of gay marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges) and the HHS mandate under the Affordable Care Act regarding contraception (which they viewed as ‘abortifacients’).
Gender Identity Policies: Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s mandate regarding transgender bathroom access was seen by religious conservatives as an assault on their First Amendment rights and a sign of anti-Christian harassment.
Defining White Christian Nationalism (WCN)
Gorski defines WCN through four key elements:
Racism: The construction of ethno-religious boundaries.
Sacrificialism: A focus on blood sacrifice and martyrdom.
Apocalypticism: A vision of catastrophic conflict and divine intervention.
Nostalgia: A yearning for a mythical ‘Golden Age.’
WCN draws from two biblical narratives:
The Conquest Narrative: Influenced by the Hebrew Scriptures, where the Israelite nation is formed through violence, exclusion, and blood rather than just covenanting. This was adopted by Puritans during wars with Native Americans (whom they recast as ‘Canaanites’).
Premillennial Apocalypticism: A literalist interpretation of the books of Daniel and John (Revelation), envisioning the world as a coded account of future catastrophes.
Trumpism as a Secularized Version of WCN
Trumpism echoes the traditional themes of WCN but removes the ‘euphemistic’ language of modern American Exceptionalism introduced by Ronald Reagan.
Secularization: Trumpism dispenses with explicit scriptural citations. Instead, it utilizes tropes from popular culture—pollution, purification, invasion, and salvation. This ‘unmooring’ from Christian ethics makes it potentially more dangerous as it drifts toward political authoritarianism.
Blood Rhetoric: Unlike the euphemisms of ‘ultimate sacrifice,’ Trump used literal blood imagery:
He frequently told an apocryphal story about General John Pershing, who allegedly executed Muslim terrorists in the Philippines using bullets dipped in pigs’ blood.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin also referenced blood, stating the ‘tree of liberty’ is watered by the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Rationalizing the ‘Other’ through Pollution and Purification
Mexican Immigrants: Trump characterized them as ‘rapists’ bringing drugs and crime, describing them as a source of physical and moral ‘pollution’ of the body politic. The proposed solutions were purification (deportation squads) and separation (the ‘big beautiful wall’).
Muslim Americans: Trump used the definite article (‘the’ Muslims) to reify the group and proposed a ‘complete and total shutdown’ of entry and a ‘special registry,’ effectively an anti-Muslim quarantine.
Khizr Khan Incident: When the father of a slain Muslim soldier spoke at the DNC, Trump attacked him, attempting to maintain an exclusionary logic of blood rhetoric by implying Khan’s wife was ‘subjugated.’
Anti-Semitic Tropes: While pro-Israel, Trump used tropes from the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ in campaign ads, featuring figures like George Soros and Janet Yellen while discussing ‘global special interests’ plotting to destroy U.S. sovereignty.
Black America: Trump linked blackness to the ‘ghetto,’ arguing that problems were a result of indigenous black ‘culture’ and violence rather than systemic racism.
The Secular Apocalypse and Messianism
Apocalyptic Narrative: Trump’s campaign was built on ‘fear and decline.’ His speeches described an ‘American carnage’ involving ‘rusted out factories scattered like tombstones.’
The ‘Flight 93 Election’: A meme popularized by Gary Bauer and The Claremont Review, comparing the U.S. to the hijacked 9/11 plane, suggesting that voters had to ‘run down the aisle’ and take control of the cockpit to save Western civilization.
Conspiracy Theories: Alex Jones (Infowars) claimed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were literal demons who smelled of sulfur.
Trump as Messiah: Trump presented himself as a savior (‘I alone can fix it’; ‘I am your voice’).
Some evangelicals compared him to King David (a flawed, adulterous leader) or the Persian King Cyrus, whom God used to restore the homeland of the Jews and punish their enemies.
Reince Priebus released a Christmas statement referencing a ‘new King,’ which many interpreted as a reference to Trump rather than Jesus.
Nostalgia, Masculinity, and Virtue
Shift in Nostalgia: Traditional Puritan nostalgia suggested that material decline was caused by moral/spiritual decline. In Trumpism, decline is caused by ‘docility and femininity.’
Masculine Dominance: ‘Virtue’ is reduced to its etymological root of ‘manly bravado.’ Greatness is achieved not through covenant-keeping but through the reassertion of male dominance and winning at ‘wars and deals.’
Conclusion: The Threat to Democracy
Gorski concludes that the election of Donald Trump represents the greatest threat to American democracy since Pearl Harbor.
Authoritarian Devolution: The conditions for an authoritarian shift—media intimidation, propaganda, voter suppression, and court packing—are falling into place.
The ‘Vital Center’: Gorski argues for a broad-based, anti-authoritarian alliance (a ‘popular front’) spanning the partisan divide between Republicans and Democrats to withstand the impending authoritarian tide.
Future Risks: The vulnerability of the nation is high, especially if a ‘perfect storm’ of a terrorist attack, economic collapse, or race riot occurs.