With the nation becoming increasingly polarized during the investigations of the Trump administration, the Left has increasingly moved from attacking President Trump directly to viciously attacking supporters. This is particularly the case with certain media and academic progressive elites. The progressive slander against Trump supporters has become increasingly vitriolic in the case of Evangelicals. The baseless attempts to play the race card against supporters, cannot be ignored and must be answered.
In a September 27, 2019 NBC opinion piece, Professor Anthea Butler wrote:
“Liberals have a tendency to wring their hands at the strong support President Donald Trump — he of the three wives and multiple affairs, and a tendency toengage in exceedingly un-Christian-like behavior at the slightest provocation — continues to receive from the white evangelical community. White evangelical support for Donald Trump is still at 73 percent, and more than 80% of Evangelicals voted for him in 2016. But focusing on the disconnect between Trump’s personal actions and the moral aspects of their faith misses the issue that keeps their support firm: racism. Modern evangelicals’ support for this president cannot be separated from the history of evangelicals’ participation in and support for racist structures in America.”
engage in exceedingly un-Christian-like behavior at the slightest provocation — continues to receive from the white evangelical community. White evangelical support for Donald Trump is still at 73 percent, and more than 80% of Evangelicals voted for him in 2016. But focusing on the disconnect between Trump’s personal actions and the moral aspects of their faith misses the issue that keeps their support firm: racism. Modern evangelicals’ support for this president cannot be separated from the history of evangelicals’ participation in and support for racist structures in America.”This is not the first attempt to play the race card against Trump supporters, as Washington Post writer Gene Robinson has similarly written:
“Overt bigotry and racism have been socially unacceptable. Trump released these demons from the back room of the American psyche where they had been stuffed. During the past year, I have seen and heard a kind of raw ugliness that I hadn’t witnessed since the dying days of Jim Crow in the segregated South … Trump was the candidate not of working-class America but of WHITE [Robinson’s emphasis] America. It is hard not to see his victory as partly, or perhaps mostly, a reaction to the eight-year presidency of Barack Obama, the first black man to occupy the White House.”
Butler is different in specifically targeting Evangelicals
Professor Butler and her ilk use nothing but conjecture in playing the race card against Evangelicals, while failing to acknowledge the overwhelming evidence against any racist motives. The majority of Republican evangelicals 
about Donald Trump during the primary. Many took issue with Trump’s seeming inconsistency over key conservative values such as his support of continued taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. Most of us Republican Evangelicals supported Hispanic Ted Cruz during the Primary until Trump became the GOP nominee. At that point, the choice was between a Democratic platform supporting most that Evangelicals disagree and supporting a platform full of Evangelical priorities. More than 80 percent of Evangelicals voted for Trump, a higher number than had voted for known evangelical George Bush, despite lingering questions among many evangelicals about Trump’s Christian sincerity and character.
about Donald Trump during the primary. Many took issue with Trump’s seeming inconsistency over key conservative values such as his support of continued taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. Most of us Republican Evangelicals supported Hispanic Ted Cruz during the Primary until Trump became the GOP nominee. At that point, the choice was between a Democratic platform supporting most that Evangelicals disagree and supporting a platform full of Evangelical priorities. More than 80 percent of Evangelicals voted for Trump, a higher number than had voted for known evangelical George Bush, despite lingering questions among many evangelicals about Trump’s Christian sincerity and character.Since the 2016 election, Evangelicals have been pleasantly surprised at the support President Trump has shown for Evangelical issues, including life, marriage, family, religious liberty. At the same time Evangelicals have watched the radical dynamic in the Democratic Party, demanding LGBTQ rights supersede Christian liberty, demanding unfettered abortion rights to the point of infanticide, demanding references to God and Christianity be completely stripped from the public square. The choice between President Trump and the Democratic Party has everything to do with Christian issues, as polls attest, and nothing to do with racist motivations.
Another dynamic helps explain Evangelical support for President Trump. For more than 
two decades, the elite national media and Democratic Party have increasingly marginalized and demeaned the views and concerns of conservatives. This is particularly the case with working-class conservatives and sincere Christians. When it comes to issues of life, religious freedom, and traditional marriage, the media has consistently portrayed Evangelicals in an unfairly negative manner. This has caused Evangelicals to appreciate a political leader like Trump who appears to fight back against the bias.
two decades, the elite national media and Democratic Party have increasingly marginalized and demeaned the views and concerns of conservatives. This is particularly the case with working-class conservatives and sincere Christians. When it comes to issues of life, religious freedom, and traditional marriage, the media has consistently portrayed Evangelicals in an unfairly negative manner. This has caused Evangelicals to appreciate a political leader like Trump who appears to fight back against the bias. In many ways, the 2016 election became the culture clash between the values of red and blue America. The Democratic Party, previously identified as the party of working class Americans, turned into a party that increasingly demeans traditional working people with the help of many in the media. The media continues to marginalize Trump supporters as solely “working class whites without a college degree”. Message: Trump supporters are uneducated, unsophisticated, and even racist. This includes Evangelicals, who are lampooned for “clinging to their Bibles”.
Evangelicals support President Trump because he has stood behind his promises to fight for issues important to them, and because it would be almost catastrophic to Evangelical interests to face the new Democratic priorities in the White House. Beto O’Rourke has admitted he would strip churches of traditional tax protections for failing to compromise on how Jesus defined marriage (one man and one woman) in Matthew 19. Right now, President Trump stands as a wall against a cultural onslaught.
Evangelicals do not support President Trump because they believe he is a paragon of virtue and the second coming. Most will openly admit he has moral failings which, though God forgives and brings redemption, cannot be condoned and are not to be emulated. It’s about policies, and a President fighting to protect what’s important.
Most importantly, Evangelicals do not support Donald Trump out of any racist motivations, and making such unsupportable slanderous charges only proves the point about unfair bias against conservatives and Evangelicals.
Progressive condescension against conservatives, evangelicals and working-class Americans helped ensure a Trump Presidency in 2016. Playing the race card in this way furthers the perception of condescension and will help lead to Trump’s reelection in 2020. Americans are fair-minded and believe strongly in religious freedom and a Christian value system. As British historian Paul Johnson noted: “America is a God-fearing country with all that implies.” With God’s grace we will remain that God fearing country.
Bill Connor, is an Orangeburg attorney, Army Infantry Colonel and author of the book “Articles from War.”
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