Trump has managed to please his Christian supporters with empty words rather than any major piece of legislation. What is sad is that it is working. | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump is a lot smarter than you think. Well, those who run his campaign and twitter account have figured out how to please some of his core followers.

Despite being a long-time donor to the Democratic Party, Trump ran as a Republican and won the presidency last year.

Now, just a few months after his victory he is still holding rallies, and despite not passing any major legislation, he has tried to please his Christian voters with executive orders, speeches and his Twitter account. In the process of gaining and keeping followers, he has abused my faith.

This isn’t about Trump’s qualifications as a Christian or his lack of faith, and I want to be clear that I am not a perfect Christian. There is no one right way to worship God. Those of us who live as Christians constantly fail to live up to the expectations we hold ourselves to. But Trump’s abuses need to stop.

Playing the game

Trump as president is the same cutthroat business man he has been all his life. When he sees a sucker, he will try to take them for all they have. There is no difference when it comes to his Christian voters.

We have seen the real Trump for years. The twice-divorced billionaire has been known as a playboy and has constantly flaunted his carefree lifestyle. He has even gone as far as bragging about being able to enter women’s locker rooms at will and was even caught talking about being able to grab women by their privates in a video that surfaced during his campaign.

This is the real Trump, and one who has been around for far longer than our current iteration. Getting elected as a conservative means he must appeal to the base that got him to the White House.

Since coming into office, he has attempted a Muslim ban that unnecessarily targets one religion. This ban had been applauded by the right but fought from its inception by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Trump has also signed an executive order that claims more religious freedoms for Americans. When you look closer at the executive order, it is obvious he just used the moment as a photo op.

Instead of granting or protecting religious freedoms, it does nothing to change any current laws regarding contraception, businesses and how they handle LGBTQ rights, and it doesn’t even expand political religious freedoms like Trump promised.

A devout twitterer

The most pious thing Trump has done is spout religion from his Twitter account. He recently posted a picture of himself at prayer with religious leaders standing over him.

Trump has also tweeted that the United States does not worship government, it worships God, which makes one question if he understands the freedom of religion at all.

One of his most egregious acts has been to call for a ban on transgender people in the military. This may make his Christian supporters happy, but it also sends a strong message to the thousands of transgender military members currently serving.

What is worse is that this proclamation may be more lip service that proves to be unconstitutional because he did not even consult his military leaders in his decision to tweet. Trump has yet to give a directive to his joint chiefs regarding his statement. This makes it clear that, yet again, he says anything to please his Christian supporters.

Trump has shown through his first few months as president that he is not a religious man but rather a business man. He will do whatever it takes to get re-elected, and that includes pretending to be a man of faith.

editor@thedailycougar.com

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“Trump taps into Christian potential with eyes on 2020” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar