When President Donald Trump is not attacking pro-impeachment Democrats or Republicans who have dared to question him in public, he has taken public solace in a base re-ignited by conflict. Donations to his re-election campaign are up as the MAGA faithful respond to accusations that Democrats and the media are waging a “coup.”
His white evangelical boosters are a big part of this base, with Texas Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress warning of “Civil War-like” division if impeachment proceeds and fellow evangelist Franklin Graham calling the faithful to prayer on Trump’s behalf. Last week at the White House, Trump celebrated that some of the “biggest pastors” had called to tell him how “electrified” their congregations are to stand with him.
But after last Sunday night’s announcement from the White House that Trump was unilaterally pulling U.S. troops out of northern Syria, a potential crack appeared in Trump’s evangelical foundation. Christian media mogul Pat Robertson announced that he was “appalled” by Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish allies by exiting Syria. If Trump does not reverse course, Robertson declared, he is “in danger of losing the mandate of Heaven.”