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Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was a remarkable political moment, and the huge role that the white evangelical Christians played in putting such a morally controversial man in the White House was a key part of 2016’s extraordinary electoral story.
Why did 80% of these defenders of biblical values vote for a man whose treatment of women, in particular, was similar to that of President Bill Clinton, of whom the same churchgoers – just one generation ago – had been so critical?
Katie Harrison went to the US in search of answers – from both critics and supporters. In her conversations with the latter, she found no attempts to excuse or defend the character flaws of the man that the Bible Belt has put in their country’s highest office. Instead, she saw an overriding determination – 40 years after the US Supreme Court made its infamous Roe Vs Wade ruling – to overturn the judgment that women have a constitutional right to abortion.
Abortion is not the only factor motivating white US evangelicals. The documentary itself, and companion pieces in the series, explore other motivations, as well as considering why almost no black churchgoers backed Mr Trump.
“Believers in Trump” is UnHerd’s seventh documentary. Listen to our five other audio docs here; below is Liam Halligan’s film profiling a transformational but largely unsung anti-monopolies campaigner of late 19th century America – Ida Tarbell. Sean Glynn produced them all.
Tim Montgomerie was most recently a columnist and comment editor for The Times of London. Before that journalistic turn he was steeped in centre right politics, founding the Conservative Christian Fellowship, then the Centre for Social Justice and, just over ten years ago, ConservativeHome.com.
montie 
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