A King Cyrus President

Abstract

Religious right leaders and voters in the United States supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election for the same reason that all blocs vote as they do: They believed that the candidate offered them the best opportunity to protect and extend their power and create their preferred government. The puzzle of their support, then, is less why they chose Trump and more how they navigated the process of inserting Trump into their story of themselves as a “moral” majority. This self-understanding promotes and exploits feelings of entitlement, fear, resentment, and the desire to dominate to encourage political action. Because Trump’s speeches affirm these feelings, religious right voters were open to writing a plot twist in their story, casting Trump as a King Cyrus figure, as their champion if not a coreligionist. This article analyzes appeals to and expressions of entitlement, fear, resentment, and the desire to dominate from more than 60 sermons, speeches, and books by religious right authors, Donald Trump, and Trump surrogates. Using open coding, it identifies themes in how these emotions are recognized, affirmed, and invoked by speakers, focusing on Trump’s Cyrus effect.

‘God Protects Us’: Nationalism versus Religious representation in the US and Indonesian Presidential Speeches

“…Christian nationalism was highly apparent during Donald Trump's presidency. Barrett-Fox (2018) studied how conservative Christians believe they have a particular right to shape American law and policy, as well as to dominate others politically. At a July 2016 rally in Iowa, Donald Trump told the gathering conservative Christians that they have the ability to be powerful, that they are entitled to use that power, and that they are expected to use that influence in order to preserve the future of hegemonic Christianity.…”

The Allegiance of White American Evangelicals to Donald Trump

“…26 Viewing Trump in this role has proven politically advantageous, according to Rebecca Barrett-Fox, who contends that, "Trump-as-Cyrus has given the religious right the authority to assert dominion over American culture and politics." 27 Going into the future, this approach could be "a deal that may only further encourage candidates of dubious morality to ally with religious right voters," 28 offering a way for the white evangelical voting bloc to continue to speak on certain moral issues, such as abortion, without requiring upstanding morality of its political champions.…”