Former president Donald Trump and his Republican rivals for the 2024 election have for months been heavily courting social conservatives and white evangelical Christians, seen as the most influential group in Iowa’s Republican caucuses.

“We thank you for the upcoming election, Lord — or caucus, as we call it in Iowa,” said Hundley, speaking from the sanctuary of his evangelical Christian church in his slight Texas drawl as his parishioners bowed their heads.

“It doesn’t matter what our opinion is,” he went on. “It’s really what’s your opinion that matters. But you’ve given us the privilege of being able to exercise a beautiful gift. The gift of vote. We thank you for that.”

While Hundley stops short of suggesting to his parishioners which candidate divine guidance should lead them to support, he is among more than 300 pastors and other faith leaders who’ve been described as supporters by former President Donald Trump’s campaign. It’s a message that some members of Hundley’s First Church of God have taken to heart, saying their faith informs their intention to caucus for Trump.

Ron Betts, a 72-year-old Republican who said he plans to caucus for “Trump all the way,” said he felt the former president “exemplified what Jesus would do.”

    • @[email protected]
      35•6 months ago

      If Jesus were to come back right now, his own followers would be the first to crucify him a second time.

    • @[email protected]English
      4•6 months ago

      Oh, but you probably don’t know about Supply Side Jesus, the new Jesus. He’d be right up there with the fat walrus.

      • @[email protected]
        4•6 months ago

        He probably wouldn’t even know the word Christos. Since he was from the sticks and almost certainly monolingual.

          • @[email protected]
            0•6 months ago

            He certainly did not speak Hebrew as it was a dead language ant that point. Aramaic descended from Hebrew and was the spoken language. It’s like saying Italians speak Latin because they’re catholic and their language derives from Latin. We even have him speaking Aramaic on the cross. And if the false messiahs were as provincial as jesus they were illiterate. What is your source for “little Christs”? Edit: and it goes without saying that christos is Greek, and while evangelicals like to say that jbird spoke koine, it’s wishful thinking intended to wave away textual inconsistencies.

      • @[email protected]OP
        3•6 months ago

        Ofc he was theistic … he was a Jew.

        And ofc he wasn’t a Christian because that religion only developed because of his death.