Pastor Robert Jeffress, of First Dallas Baptist Megachurch, is also a regular Fox 'News' contributor who wishes to create an American Christian Theocracy. In keeping with the ruse that Donald Trump is an appealing candidate to ALL Republicans, Jeffress appeared with Gretchen Carlson to rationalize Trump's appeal to certain types of Evangelical voters. The pastor puts candidates like Cruz, Rubio, Santorum and Huckabee in the 'Evangelical Idealist' camp while Donald Trump appeals to these folks in an 'Evangelical Pragmatist' manner.
In an attempt to label Trump, the front runner, as a true Christian Conservative, Jeffress takes up for his shortcomings, and it's not the first time he's done this for Donald. Forgiving sinners is a critical tenet of Born Again Christians. Misquoting a Biblical verse qualifies as a forgivable transgression.
On the matter of his use of Two Corinthians, instead of Second Corinthians, Jeffress went to bat for Trump by excusing his mistake because 'British hierarchy used to refer to books of the Bible as two rather than second. After all, Trump's own mother was Scottish, so there. Watch the video below at the 3:13 mark to see the mental gymnastics Jeffress performs on behalf of the self-serving billionaire candidate to justify his mislabeling of a Biblical verse.
The Evangelicals in Iowa seem to want a strong candidate whom they believe will win the Presidency for the Republican party. This is so they can hurry up and overturn all that homo-gay 'progress' the country has espoused as a majority for the last seven years. To look like the winner in all of this, he rationalizes his support of this man who never asks for forgiveness. Even though Donald Trump claims he's virtuous, which goes against the tenets of the Jesus-loving sinners of the Evangelical Christian faith, Jeffress backs his candidacy.
JEFFRESS: They (Evangelicals) would say, yes, we'd love a strong person of faith in the office, but we hadn't been able to nominate that kind of candidate lately, much less send them to the White House. So, they would say, let's find the most conservative person we can, let him concentrate on fixing the economy and protecting the nation and we'll allow churches and individual Christians to articulate Biblical values in society, and those pragmatists are going towards Donald Trump.
Pastor Jeffress doesn't want to put himself out there as a supporter of anyone who might not win. He explains to Carlson that Cruz was once ahead with Evangelicals for the most part, until the Des Moines Register poll put Donald Trump in the lead with these same voters. Carlson reminds the pastor that there are still at least 35% of these Evangelicals who haven't made a firm decision yet. The TV Evangelist has lent his support to both Pragmatic and Ideological Evangelicals, so he'll come out a winner no matter what the outcome of today's caucuses. His appeal to his congregation is contingent upon his role as wise soothsayer.
It's hard to ignore that the reason that Trump's popularity has flourished with the Jesus-Saves crowd is simple: they are oft considered gullible. They take the Old Testament at its word, no matter how much scientific evidence is available to the contrary. It's not much of a stretch that they can believe the words of a shyster like Trump, because they want to forgive and they want someone to be stern and strong. They respect the authoritarian style of Megyn Kelly's nemesis. That feud only makes Trump appear stronger because the misogynist tenets of the Old Testament would demand that he put this inferior woman in her rightful place.
Let's face it, Evangelicals are always looking for a savior. They'll even forgive the pandering of a man who is obviously exploiting their faith to further his own goals. If this candidate comes out as a winner, Pastor Jeffress can put more asses in the seats of his obscenely opulent church and more dollars in his coffers. If he does not, which seems unlikely at this point, Jeffress can still say he predicted the outcome with his accolades of the Ideological Evangelical bunch. He can have his cake and eat it too.
