“To understand why evangelical Christians support Trump, it’s important to understand their vision of the world.”
Hegemony
Trump’s extreme-right, Christian supporters see the U.S. as a nation built on Christian beliefs and values. Accordingly, they see the political system as a tool to be used for the promotion of a specifically Christian worldview.
They thus see it as their moral obligation to assert Christian dominance in the U.S. and in the world at large.
“The question, then, is how to bring about this hegemony,” Gagné says. “They believe the way to do this is through the mobilization of Christians in various spheres of culture. They want influencers who can shape politics, business and media according to Christian values.”
Gagné notes that many of them see Trump as an opportunity for this.
“They think that he will help bring about the dominance of Christianity in the U.S.”
Demonology
“The neo-charismatic evangelicals believe that life is characterized by ‘spiritual warfare,’ a conflict between good and evil. Some of them come to see politics as the playing out of a war waged against what they call ‘principalities and powers.’ Political adversaries — progressives, democrats or secular groups — come to be viewed as the avatars of demonic, evil forces,” he explains.
“In nourishing this kind of discourse, they create a trenchant and hostile opposition between themselves and anyone who opposes them.”
The end of the world
These two factors emerge from a third one: the hope and belief that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is at hand.
“For some of these groups, the establishment of the Kingdom of God is effectuated through social transformation, in preparation for Christ’s imminent return on earth,” Gagné says.
“Trump’s nominal support of Israel, his move of the embassy to Jerusalem, his attempt to broker peace talks between Israel and its Arab neighbours, the drone strike against Iranian General Qassim Soleimani — all of these events are taken as confirmation of their eschatological narrative. They see in these events confirmation that Trump is the harbinger of the Second Coming.”
