Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump railed against “so-called Christians” and “pieces of s—” evangelicals who supported Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, according to a forthcoming book.
At the time, a Cruz ally had made hay from Trump in front of an audience at Virginia’s Liberty University, a conservative evangelical college, where he failed a question about his favorite Bible verse and replied that it came from the book of “Two Corinthians,” rather than “Second Corinthians .”
“The laughter and jeers are embarrassing enough for Trump,” writes Tim Alberta in his new book, “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism,” excerpts reported by the Guardian.
“But news about [Family Research Council President Tony] Perkins endorsing Ted Cruz, just days later, sent him into a tailspin. He began speculating that there was a conspiracy among powerful evangelicals to deny him the GOP nomination,” Alberta added.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump railed against “so-called Christians” and “pieces of shit” evangelicals who supported Ted Cruz during the 2016 Iowa caucuses. Getty Images At the time, Cruz allies had used Trump’s speech to an audience at Liberty University, a college conservative evangelical, when he failed to name his favorite Bible verse.Getty Images
“When Cruz’s allies began using the ‘Two Corinthians’ line to attack him in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump told an Iowa Republican official, ‘You know, these so-called Christians hanging around with Ted are part of them. —.’”
Despite Trump’s defeat by Cruz in Iowa, the 77-year-old posted convincing victories in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries as a stepping stone to the Republican nomination — and, ultimately, to the White House.
Now a front-runner for the GOP nod in 2024, Trump has continued to mock evangelicals during his tenure, using “more colorful language” to do so, Alberta said.
“Trump told an Iowa Republican official, ‘You know, the so-called Christians hanging out with Ted are some real shit,'” according to the book excerpt.Amazon
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 45, who polls show a distant second to the thrice-married real estate mogul and former reality TV star, on Tuesday won the endorsement of “Iowa Caucus kingmaker” Bob Vander Plaats, a prominent Christian evangelical leader in Hawkeye State.
“What we’re seeing in 2022, the so-called ‘red tide’ is only happening in Florida and in Iowa,” Vander Plaats told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier.
“Gov. DeSantis took a credible state in Florida and turned it completely red — winning by 20 points, winning in a demographic we haven’t won — but he also did it by being a bold and courageous leader,” the CEO and president of the conservative group Family Leaders added.
“Iowa Caucus kingmaker” Bob Vander Plaats recently endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is a distant second to the thrice-married real estate mogul and reality TV star.AP
Last week, Vander Plaats hosted a Thanksgiving Family Forum with DeSantis and GOP candidates Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur.
Vander Plaats, whose last three confirmed Republican candidates have won the Iowa caucuses, went on to say the GOP needs “a president who can serve two terms, not one.”
“You need a president who will surround himself with the best and brightest people, as opposed to having difficulty attracting them again,” he told Baier.
Vander Plaats, whose last three confirmed candidates have won the Iowa caucuses, went on to say Republicans “need a president who can serve two terms, not one.”
“And somebody who’s really going to do what they say they’re going to do, and I think he’s got the backbone to do it. And I think he has the experience to win for us,” Vander Plaats said of DeSantis.
But a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll from late October found Trump remains the first choice among Republican caucus candidates, with 43% backing the former president.
Only 16% said they supported DeSantis and the same percentage supported Haley, the poll showed.
Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie each received 4%.
An October poll found Trump remains the first choice among likely Republican caucus members, with 43% backing the former president.REUTERS
The poll also found that 44% of self-identified evangelicals support Trump, while 22% support DeSantis, 15% support Haley and 3% support Ramaswamy.
Alberta’s book will be released on December 5, but has drawn derision from the Trump campaign.
“This ‘book’ either belongs in the discount bin in the fiction section of the bookstore or should be repurposed as toilet paper,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“This is nothing more than a completely fabricated story that is now being printed because President Trump is the clear frontrunner to become the Republican nominee and the strongest candidate to defeat Crooked Joe Biden. Everyone knows President Trump has been and continues to be a champion for evangelicals and people of faith, and he has a strong record of that.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
