By MICHELLE L. PRICE (Associated Press)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pastor Charles Hundley opened his worship service on a chilly Sunday in northeast Des Moines with a prayer that made it clear one endorsement above all will matter in Iowa’s caucuses eight days away.
“We thank you for the upcoming election, Lord — or caucus, as we call it in Iowa,” stated Hundley, talking from the sanctuary of his evangelical Christian church in his slight Texas drawl as his parishioners bowed their heads.
“It doesn’t matter what our opinion is,” he went on. “It’s really what’s your opinion that matters. But you’ve given us the privilege of being able to exercise a beautiful gift. The gift of vote. We thank you for that.”
While Hundley stops in need of suggesting to his parishioners which candidate divine steering ought to cause them to assist, he’s amongst greater than 300 pastors and different religion leaders who’ve been described as supporters by former President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign. It’s a message that some members of Hundley’s First Church of God have taken to coronary heart, saying their religion informs their intention to caucus for Trump.
The former president and his rivals for the Republican nomination in 2024 have for months been closely courting social conservatives and white evangelical Christians, lengthy seen as probably the most influential group in Iowa’s Republican caucuses.
Ron Betts, a 72-year-old Republican who stated he plans to caucus for “Trump all the way,” stated he felt the previous president “exemplified what Jesus would do.”
Hundley stated he doesn’t talk about politics from the pulpit or privately urge members of his congregation to assist his favored candidate, however he encourages them to take part and use their religion to make their selections.
“I look at it from a Christian perspective,” he stated. “I expect them to look at it from a Christian perspective. What does God say of us?”
Before climate pressured a postponement, the First Church of God on Monday was presupposed to host a Trump marketing campaign occasion that includes Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary, and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former presidential candidate, as a part of what’s billed as a Team Trump Iowa Faith Tour.
Trump, who has a commanding polling lead in Iowa, has been emphasizing his endorsements from religion leaders and success in seating three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade resolution that protected abortion rights nationwide. The former president, nonetheless, has confronted some pushback from conservatives for failing to endorse nationwide abortion restrictions.
Trump incessantly contains a prayer firstly of his marketing campaign occasions, one thing his rivals have additionally included at their stops. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has portrayed himself as extra conservative than Trump, options non secular rhetoric as he campaigns and has the backing of greater than 100 religion leaders, together with the influential Iowa evangelical determine Bob Vander Plaats.
Trump has lengthy appeared like an unlikely match for the conservative devoted who form the primary contest of the Republican main. He entered politics as a brash, thrice-married former actuality tv star who spent many years as a New York City tabloid fixture, boasted of his sexual prowess and as soon as supported abortion rights. His frequent lies and distortions in his campaigns and presidency centered on all the things from his political rivals to the pandemic to the 2020 election outcomes. And final yr a jury discovered him responsible for sexual abuse.
In his first race for the White House in 2016, his picture appeared to canine him as he struggled in Iowa, dropping the state to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. But as the previous president once more seeks the White House, he’s discovering robust assist among the many devoted.
While about one-third of U.S. adults, 37%, have a positive opinion of Trump, he’s seen extra favorably amongst those that determine themselves as evangelicals or born-again Christians. About half of evangelicals in an AP-NORC ballot performed in October stated they’ve a positive view of Trump. That’s even increased amongst white born-again Christians, at 56%.
Trump has centered his third marketing campaign round a message of retribution and harsh justice, a framework that doesn’t appear to be hurting him with evangelicals. Some members of Hundley’s church pointed to these themes as a cause Trump finest aligns with their religion, suggesting his powerful stance on the border and requires harsher punishment for crimes replicate a way of justice they see as rooted in Christianity.
The 72-year-old Betts likened Trump’s authorized troubles — from the 91 legal expenses he presently faces to the hassle in some states to maintain him off the 2024 presidential poll due to his push to overturn his 2020 election loss — to a crucifixion.
“I think they are doing the same thing they did to Jesus on the cross,” Betts stated. “I can see a lot of correlation there.”
Cliff Carey, a 73-year-old member of Hundley’s congregation, stated Trump supported issues he helps as a Christian and pointed to his actions round abortion specifically, calling him “the greatest pro-life president we’ve ever seen.”
“I think he’s an imperfect individual just like the rest of us, but I think God used that man to govern in godly principles,” he stated.
His sister-in-law, Cindy Carey, agreed.
“I wouldn’t vote for him as my pastor,” she stated. “I want him to lead our nation back to that city on a hill, shining city on a hill.”
Carey feels Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan is about returning the nation to the Christian rules she believes it was based on.
“I definitely take my belief and my understanding of the Bible into the voting booth with me.” she stated. “I believe 100% that that’s my responsibility.”
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Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”