Trump policies fire up evangelicals but divide Middle East Christians
The US president is highlighting Middle East policies championed by American Christians as he seeks to energize his evangelical base ahead of next month’s elections.
With President Donald Trump’s support among evangelicals sliding ahead of next month’s mid-term elections, the White House is seeking to energize the Republican base by highlighting his administration’s special treatment of Middle Eastern Christians and Israel.
Shortly after a Reuters poll last month revealed that Trump’s approval among white evangelicals had fallen from 73% at the beginning of his presidency to 62% in August, Vice President Mike Pence warned a crowd of fellow evangelical Christians that they must surpass “the energy of the American left and their enthusiasm and passion” as Democrats threaten Republican control of Congress.
As part of his pitch to the socially conservative Family Research Council’s annual Values Voter Summit in September, Pence touted efforts to secure the release of pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish custody, the Jerusalem embassy move and direct aid for Iraqi Christians. The lineup also included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and Jacqueline Funari, Brunson’s daughter.
After Turkey finally released Brunson after two years in custody earlier this month, Trump hosted the pastor at the White House. During a 30-minute on-camera meeting in the Oval Office, Brunson knelt by the president in prayer and said that he had voted for Trump via absentee ballot from a Turkish prison. The political optics could not have been better for Trump, whose evangelical base has long pushed for Brunson’s release.
