Freedom Kids lawsuit, sexual harassment claims, ‘Rocket Man’: 5 Trump controversies you might've forgotten

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Mocking Evangelical leaders in private

Several faith leaders lay hands on President Donald Trump at an informal meeting held at the Roosevelt Room in the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29, 2019. | White House/Joyce Boghosian

Many Americans are aware of the considerable support that Trump receives from conservative Evangelical leaders, with many crediting said support with his victory in the 2016 election and successes in the recent GOP primary season.

Also, many have seen this relationship begin to strain in recent times with the concerns over Trump leading the effort to soften the Republican Party’s official opposition to abortion.

What might be less remembered was a September 2020 story published by The Atlantic which claimed that, behind closed doors, Trump was quite contemptuous of his Evangelical supporters.

According to the Atlantic piece, “in private, many of Trump’s comments about religion are marked by cynicism and contempt,” with former staff members claiming that “they’ve heard Trump ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss various faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride certain rites and doctrines held sacred by many of the Americans who constitute his base.”

Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for Trump, recounted in a book that, in 2011, after a group of pastors had laid hands on Trump, the future president remarked “Can you believe that bulls---?”

For their part, a White House spokesperson gave a statement to The Hill in which they said that “people of faith know that President Trump is a champion for religious liberty and the sanctity of life, and he has taken strong actions to support them and protect their freedom to worship.”

“The president is also well known for joking and his terrific sense of humor, which he shares with people of all faiths,” the Trump administration spokesperson added.