The Anti-Comey? Trump at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference

While James Comey was delivering his powerful testimony about Russian interference in the 2016 election, President Donald Trump addressed his base's concerns at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference. This group combines religious fervor with conservative political action. Trump said nothing about Comey, Russia, or the ongoing investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Instead, Trump talked about some of the issues that propelled him in the 2016 election: issues that the mainstream media has mostly considered to be bizarre and irrelevant. Doing so, he did a remarkable job of adapting to his audience. This first post talks about Trump's rhetoric of Christianity under siege; in a follow-up post, I will talk about the way Trump integrated Christianity into standard right-wing rhetoric. 

White House photo

The central issue: many evangelical Christians believe that their religion is under attack. They believe that secular forces in the government and Islamic forces across the world threaten the Christian faith. By showing that he cared about the threats that they perceived, Trump showed that he identified with them, that he was of one substance with them (to paraphrase Kenneth Burke). Like many on the Christian Right, Trump connected Christianity to conservative issues that bore little obvious relevance to Christian teachings. And, indeed, White Evangelical Christians were among Trump's most reliable supporters in the 2016 election.

Trump's theme: Christianity was under siege. Really? Christianity obviously is truly under siege in some theocratic countries that persecute Christians or restrict Christian worship. In the United States, however, Christianity is the dominant religious group. How can it be under siege? But let's look at what Trump said: "We will always support our Evangelical community, and defend your right, and the right of all Americans, to follow and to live by the teachings of their faith. And as you know, we're under siege. You understand that. But we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever. You watch." Later in the speech, he said: "It is time to put a stop to the attacks on religion. (Applause.)" He promised to resist Muslim extremists.

Trump talked about what he had done protect his audience's rights and relieve the siege. To protect religious liberty, he said he signed an executive order to protect "the rights of groups like yours – the Little Sisters of the Poor." This referred to a controversy about whether the Little Sisters should be required to provide health insurance covering birth control to their employees. Trump also promised to stop the Johnson Amendment, which restricted political advocacy by tax-exempt organizations. He turned this into a matter of freedom: "No federal worker should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors. (Applause.)"

Trump promised to protect their faith, to defend them from the siege: "As long as I'm president, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart and from preaching – and really this is so important – from the bottom of my heart – from preaching from the people that you most want to hear and that you so respect."

This led Trump to talk some more about how he thought religious leaders should guide their flocks in political matters: "So we want our pastors speaking out. We want their voices in our public discourse." Again, although many mainstream figures strongly support the separation of government and religion, Trump joined his audience to advocate religious participation in government. He made quite a move: from relieving the siege, which is one thing, he slipped to advocating Church involvement in politics, which is another issue. The Johnson Amendment gave him his link.

Many of the specific examples he talked about, although very common in conservative talk, were actually quite esoteric. Whether religious organizations should provide the same kind of health insurance as everyone else is interesting, but hardly central to the debate about healthcare in the United States. The absence of public prayer in public schools, although, again, a hot-button issue, is important more because it symbolizes secularism then because it interferes with families' religious teachings. These issues are, however, typical for those who believe that Christianity is under siege. By sharing these perspectives, Trump showed that he identified with his audience, that he shared their concerns, and that he would defend them

Of course, people will band together to resist a siege. When people feel they are under siege, they are likely to support more dramatic actions and policies, which was exactly what Trump wanted.

Now, let's go back to James Comey. Trump talked right through Comey's testimony. He said nothing about Comey or the investigation into Russian election meddling.  How could he not talk about Comey? About Russia? Which were, after all, the day's issues? We can interpret Trump's reticence in two different ways. (1) On the one hand, did the James Comey hearing warn us that American democracy was threatened? Or, (2) instead, was Comey's testimony itself one more threat, one more part of the siege? If Comey's testimony threatens Trump's presidency, could that also make the Faith and Freedom Coalition feel that the anti-Christian siege is making progress? Trump defended Christians from the siege, they felt, and Comey threatened Trump's presidency, and thus endangered their protector. So, Trump could safely ignore Comey, leaving his audience draw their own conclusion.

Many people wonder why conservative Christians continue to support Trump despite his obvious lack of Christian teaching and practice. Trump's June 8, 2017 speech answers that question. The Faith and Freedom Coalition banded together to resist the siege that they felt they believed menaced them. Next: how do you move from Christianity to standard conservative issues? I'll talk about that as I continue my discussion of Trump's speech in my next post.