A cynical Trump exploits the Christian Right

Wednesday, the headline at CBN News reads “Faith Leaders Pray for Trump in Oval Office, Enjoy 'Open Door' at White House.”

About two dozen evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office Monday during a day-long "listening session" with the Office of Public Liaison.

Johnnie Moore, a former senior vice-president at Liberty University, posted pictures of the prayer time Tuesday night on social media but emphasized that it was more than just a photo op.
[…]
Moore said faith leaders are enjoying frequent access to officials throughout the Trump administration and explained: "We enjoy an open door, not just in the Eisenhower Building, but in the West Wing."

In other words: “Fuck the country. We get right-wing Supreme Court picks and Trump gets our help getting re-elected.” The fact that Trump is a sociopath and demonstrably a pathological liar doesn't seem to register with these folks. The fact that Trump makes decisions based on nothing more than, say, a Fox News commentary is irrelevant. The fact that he probably colluded with Russia to steal an election is equally unimportant. They just do not care. We already know (as they should) that the only thing Trump cares about is Trump.

Also in the room:

• Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC)
• John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio
• Paula White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida
• Michele Bachmann
• Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition
• Gary Bauer, president of American Values
• Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas
• Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas
• Jim Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, California
• Rodney Howard-Browne, senior pastor at the River at Tampa Bay Church
• Mike Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem
• Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte and others.

That's some list. Just off the top of my head, Perkins is a hate group leader. Paula White is a prosperity gospel grifter. Ralph Reed is a swindler who enabled Jack Abramoff. Bachman is stupid and crazy. Hagee is anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic (something he attempts to mask with far right support for  Israel). Bauer is an especially rabid anti-LGBT bigot. Robert Jeffress is an all-around bigot including Jews, Catholics, LGBTs and Muslims. According to Garlow (who is more extreme right politician than religious leader) Christians who don’t support Trump are comparable to those who failed to resist Nazism in Germany. “It’s like the Christians in Germany who eventually knew what was happening to the Jews as they were being gassed.” Nothing like gratuitous Third Reich imagery to piss me off. Rodney Howard-Browne is another grifter and faith healer.

As for Trump, he about as devout as an off-season radish.

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