One of the enduring puzzles of contemporary American politics is why white evangelicals, who loudly proclaim their devotion to the teachings of the Bible, continue to support the thrice-married, six-times-bankrupted, multiple-times-unfaithful, chronically lying president, who has, at the very least, violated three of the Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not commit adultery,” “Thou shalt not steal,” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness”) and arguably several others.
As the Stormy Daniels affair continues to unfold—and as it becomes more and more likely that it will be confirmed that the president did have an extramarital affair with a porn star three months after his third wife gave birth—it becomes increasingly bizarre to watch white evangelicals stand by their man. After all, evangelicals' religious beliefs seem in direct opposition to their support for the president's actions. To many, the evangelical embrace of Trump seems a “corruption of a religious tradition by politics,” as Michael Gerson put it in his recent Atlantic cover story.
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