TEN COMMANDMENTS. I’M GOING TO HAVE MORE
DISCUSSION, JACK JINKENS FOR
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE, ROLAND
MARTIN IS THE HOST OF "ROLAND
MARTIN UNFILTERED."
MARTIN UNFILTERED." ROLAND, THE LAST TIME YOU WERE
ON THE SHOW YOU PAID HOMAGE TO
MY KENYAN ORIGINS.
YOU APPEAR TO BE DRESSED IN
SOMETHING MORE WEST AFRICAN.
>> THAT OUTFIT WAS MADE IN
GHANA, SO IS THIS, AS WELL.
I APPRECIATE --
>> I THINK YOU HAVE ROOTS IN
BEGAN ARIGHT?
BEGAN ARIGHT? >> I THERE WAS IN DECEMBER.
MY ACTUALLY DNA TRACES BACK TOO
SIERRA LEONE.
SIERRA LEONE. I ENJOYED MY TIME THERE AND
LOOKED TO VISIT SOME OTHER
AFRICAN NATIONS VERY SOON.
>> WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING WITH
US.
US. YOU, TOO, JACK.
JACK, LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS.
80% OF EVANGELICALS SUPPORT
TRUMP.
TRUMP. THAT’S ACTUALLY WAY LOWER THAN
HIS SUPPORT BASE AMONGST
REPUBLICANS IN GENERAL.
BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF
EVANGELICALS WHO WERE NEVER
REPUBLICANS WHO -- A LOT OF THE
IOWA VOTING BASE, FRIENDS, ARE
WHITE EVANGELICALS WHO ARE --
FOR EXAMPLE, ARE WHITE
EVANGELICALS WHO ARE DEMOCRATS.
>> WHAT YOU SEE IN THE
"CHRISTIANITY TODAY" ARTICLE IS
A PUBLICATION SPEAKING TO AND
FOR WHITE EVANGELICALS WHO HAVE
ALWAYS BEEN UNCOMFORTABLE WITH
TRUMP.
TRUMP. THE WHOLE SUBSET ARE, IN FACT,
DEMOCRATS.
DEMOCRATS. BUT A LOT COULD BE DESCRIBED AS
CENTRISTS OR MODERATES.
SOME MIGHT HAVE HELD THEIR NOSES
AND VOTED FOR HIM IN 2016.
IF THEY CONTINUE TO EXPRESS THIS
KIND OF FRUSTRATION LIKE WE SAW
IN THAT "CHRISTIANITY TODAY"
EDITORIAL, THERE’S A CHANCE HE
MIGHT LOSE SOME.
THEY COULD VOTE INDEPENDENT OR
THIRD PARTY OR SOME MIGHT END UP
VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS.
SO THERE IS SOME SENSE OF
CONCERN WITHIN THE TRUMP CAMP
LOOKING FORWARD IN TERMS OF
SHORING UP THEIR SUPPORT AMONG
WHITE EVANGELICALS.
WHITE EVANGELICALS. >> ROLAND, YOU ARE A MAN OF
FAITH.
FAITH. AND ONE OF THE ISSUES IN THE
LAST SEVERAL YEARS HAS BEEN
DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN VIEWED AS
AN OBJECT OF SUSPICION BY SOME
PEOPLE OF FAITH.
ALTHOUGH HE SEEMS -- THERE ARE
ENOUGH VIDEO IMAGES OF HIM DOING
THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE A GUY WHO
IS RELIGIOUS.
IS RELIGIOUS. HOW DO DEMOCRATS WHO ARE TRYING
TO COURT PARTICULARLY THE BLACK
RELIGIOUS VOTE DEAL WITH THIS?
>> WELL, FIRST AND FOREMOST,
LOOK, I’M A CHRISTIAN AUTHOR.
MY WIFE IS ORDAINED MINISTER.
AND THE REALITY IS THIS HERE --
WHITE CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS
ARE CHRISTIAN FRAUDS.
LET ME SAY IT AGAIN.
THEY’RE FRAUDS.
THEY’RE FRAUDS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE MORAL
MAJORITY FROM JERRY FALWELL AND
THE PAT ROBERTSONS OF THE WORLD,
ALL WE HEARD FROM THEM SINCE THE
LATE ’70s AND ’80s, CHARACTER,
VALUES, MORALS, AND ALL THOSE
THINGS.
THINGS. YET, WHAT THEY DID IS THEY
EMBRACED DONALD TRUMP WHO IS
IMMORAL, HAS NO VALUES, HAS NO
PRINCIPLES, AND, FRANKLY, IS A
FAKE CHRISTIAN, OKAY.
SO LET’S CUT TO THE CHASE HERE.
AND SO BLACK EVANGELICALS SEE
RIGHT THROUGH THIS, OKAY.
WE HAVE ALSO SEEN THROUGH THIS
-- ALWAYS SEEN THROUGH THIS.
REMEMBER IT WAS WHITE
CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS WHO
HELD UP AND SUPPORT JIM CROW AND
WHO WOULD USE THE BIBLE TO
ENDORSE SLAVERY.
ENDORSE SLAVERY. WHAT YOU HAVE ARE INDIVIDUALS
WHO ONLY CARE ABOUT TWO THINGS
-- WHITE CONSERVATIVE
EVANGELICALS CARE ABOUT TWO
THINGS.
THINGS. THEY CAN’T STAND GAY PEOPLE, AND
THEY CAN’T STAND ABORTION.
AND SO ALL THEY CARE ABOUT ARE
FEDERAL JUDGES WHO ARE GOING TO
DRIVE HOME THEIR AGENDA, AND
THAT’S WHY THEY SUCK UP TO
TRUMP.
TRUMP. AND THAT’S WHY HE’S GIVEN THEM
IN THE SOCIETY COMPLETE REIN TO
PICK FEDERAL JUDGES.
SO THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE
POOR, THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE.
CLIMATE CHANGE. AND I GO BACK TO 2003, ALI, WHEN
GOVERNOR BOB RALLY, BIG TIME
EVANGELICAL, WANTED TO CHANGE
THE TAX CODE TO THE $1.2 BILLION
INCREASE IN ALABAMA TO HELP THE
POOR, HE EVEN USED WHAT WOULD
JESUS DO TO -- THE SCHOOLS IN
ALABAMA LOST 67-33.
GUESS WHO VOTED AGAINST IT --
THE SAME PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY
LOVE JESUS.
LOVE JESUS. >> JACK JENKINS, THERE ARE
PEOPLE WHO ASK WHAT’S -- WHAT’S
THE TIE BETWEEN EVANGELICALS AND
DONALD TRUMP GIVEN HIS BEHAVIOR,
GIVEN THE DISHONESTY, YOU KNOW,
WHAT’S THE THING?
IS IT BECAUSE OF JUDGES AND
ABORTION AND GAY RIGHTS?
>> THERE ARE A FEW DIFFERENT
REASONS FOR THIS.
THIS IS THE BIG QUESTION THAT
RELIGION JOURNALISTS STRUGGLE
WITH ALL THE TIME.
I THINK SOME OF IT HAS TO DO
WITH, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE YOU
SAID THE JUDGES -- THERE’S A
TRANSACTIONAL NATURE TO THIS
SORT OF ELECTORATE WHERE THEY
SEE SOMEONE WHO COULD
POTENTIALLY SUPPORT THE ISSUES
AND THE POLICIES THAT THEY, YOU
KNOW, HOLD DEAR.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, AND YOU
KNOW, TRUMP REALLY DOES LEAN
INTO WHAT OFTEN IS DESCRIBED AS
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM WHICH
ISN’T NECESSARILY A THEOLOGY SO
MUCH AS AN IDENTITY.
A MARRIAGE OF THE BIBLE AND THE
AMERICAN FLAG, THAT PEOPLE
RESONATE WITH.
RESONATE WITH. THAT’S WHEN YOU HEAR HIM IN
RALLIES TALK ABOUT SAYING, YOU
KNOW, WE DON’T WORSHIP
GOVERNMENT, WE WORSHIP GOD.
THAT’S A LINE THAT SELLS WITH A
LOT OF EVANGELICALS WHO MIGHT
NOT EVEN GO TO CHURCH THAT
OFTEN.
OFTEN. BUT REALLY DO IDENTIFY WITH THAT
KIND OF IDENTITY.
WHEN YOU COMBINE ALL OF THOSE
SORTS OF THINGS, THE
TRANSACTIONAL SORT OF
RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTIAN
NATIONALISM, IT’S A RECIPE FOR
APPARENTLY SHOWING UP A REALLY
STRONG -- SHORING UP A REALLY
STRONG BASE.
STRONG BASE. >> ROLAND, WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC
CANDIDATE BEST EQUIPPED TO PEEL
OFF AT LEAST BLACK EVANGELICAL
AND MAYBE SOME WHITE EVANGELICAL
SUPPORT?
SUPPORT? >> WELL, I THINK CERTAINLY YOU
LOOK AT VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
WHO TALKS ABOUT HIS FAITH ON THE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL. THAT’S REALLY THE CANDIDATE I
THINK -- YOU HEAR PETE BUTTIGIEG
WITH THE REALITY HE IS DOWN
SIGNIFICANTLY AMONG BLACK
VOTERS.
VOTERS. THE END OF THE DAY, YOU SEE HOW
JOE BIDEN’S DOING IN SOUTH
CAROLINA AND OTHER STATES, SO
HE’S MORE COMFORTABLE SPEAKING
TO THE AUDIENCE.
WHEN YOU ALSO SAY CHRISTIAN
NATIONALISM, YOU GOT TO BE
SPECIFIC.
SPECIFIC. IT’S WHITE CHRISTIAN
NATIONALISM, AND WE CAN’T BE
AFRAID TO CALL IT WHAT IT IS.
AND THAT’S WHY I WILL CALL OUT
TONY PERKINS AND RALPH REED AND
ROBERT JEFFERS BECAUSE THEY ARE
NOT ADVOCATING FOR CHRISTIANITY,
THEY’RE ADVOCATING FOR WHITE
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM.
CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM. >> GUYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
JOINING ME THIS MORNING.
JACK JENKINS REPORTER FOR
"RELIGION SERVICE NEWS."