In the heat of the 2016 Republican primaries, then a candidate for the White House Donald Trump called the Iowa senator’s evangelical supporters Ted Cruz “so-called Christians” and began to believe there was a “conspiracy between powerful evangelicals,” according to a new book.
The Guardian published excerpts from Atlantic journalist Tim Alberta’s upcoming book, Kingdom, Power and Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of ExtremismThursday, which provided a behind-the-scenes look at Trump’s response to criticism he received nearly eight years ago when he named “Two Corinthians” as his favorite Bible verse instead of “Second Corinthians.”
“The laughter and mockery were embarrassing enough for Trump,” Alberta wrote in the book, which will be published Dec. 5. “But the news that (Family Research Council President Tony) Perkins was endorsing Ted Cruz, a few days later, sent “he began to speculate that there was a conspiracy among powerful evangelicals to deny him the nomination of the GOP. “
News week contacted Trump by email for comment.
Trump, who is currently the favourite in the 2024 Republican primaries, is fighting for support of evangelicals, a powerful bloc for Republican candidates, particularly in Iowa, where the Republican Party holds its first caucus in January. Evangelicals are a dominant voting group in the Hawkeye State, where 55 percent of them identify as “deeply religious,” a BNC News/Register of Monks poll of august shows.
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News of Trump’s alleged 2016 comments comes days after powerful evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats handed over Trump’s rival, the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, a major endorsement in Iowa on Tuesday. Two weeks earlier, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds also supported DeSantis.
In his upcoming book, Alberta recalls that “when Cruz’s allies began using the ‘Two Corinthians’ line to attack him in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump told a Republican official Iowa: “You know, those so-called Christians hanging around. with Ted, there are some real pieces of shit.'”
The reporter goes on to claim that “in private conversations,” Trump “used even more colorful language to describe the evangelical community.”
Cruz would outperform Trump by 12 percentage points among Iowa evangelical voters, according to an NBC News entrance poll that year. But Trump would win the second primary in New Hampshire and end up easily winning the Republican nomination.
Vander Plaats is widely considered a kingmaker in Iowa, where he worked on the GOP’s winning campaign in the 2008 caucus and supported the winner of the nation’s first contest in 2012 and 2016.
Despite Vander Plaats’ strong record of support, Trump has outpaced his Republican opponents among Iowa evangelicals, 44% of whom plan to make Trump their first choice, according to a report. Register of Monks last month’s poll. Comparably, 22 percent said DeSantis would be their first choice.
Vander Plaats and Trump have been at odds since the 2016 primaries, and it doesn’t seem like things have changed much since then. Last week, Trump refused to attend a Thanksgiving family forum in Des Moines hosted by Vander Plaats.
When the evangelical leader endorsed DeSantis this week, he said Fox News“I don’t think America is going to elect (Trump) president again. I think America would be better off having a choice, and I really believe Ron DeSantis should be that guy. And I think Iowa is tailor-made for him to win this.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
