White Christian America and Trump, Part 2

The surprising story of the election is why white evangelical Protestant voters, who staked their identity and reputation as “values voters,” have been so quick to abandon their own stated principles to support Donald Trump, especially in the Republican primaries when they had other candidate choices who clearly aligned more closely with their values, such as Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Ted Cruz. The key, I believe, is that Donald Trump successfully converted these “values voters” into “nostalgia voters” by tapping their anxieties about the massive demographic and cultural changes the country has recently experienced. When he promised to “Make America Great Again,” white evangelical voters heard a familiar refrain about taking back the country and restoring their more prominent place in it.