The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked victory for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at 12 on an index where the current top threat is a Chinese economic “hard landing” rated 20 (AFP Photo/Jim Watson).
…Buoyed by his support from deeply religious voters during the Republican primary, the thrice-married Trump has been meeting privately in Manhattan’s Trump Tower with top members of the evangelical community for months, peppering the conversations with fundraising appeals.
At one recent meeting with Trump, evangelical leaders noted how he often flashes a signature hand gesture, with a thumb out and a finger point to the sky, as he enters and exits rallies.
“You see athletes do it all the time and it’s their chance to point to the sky, to thank God for their success,” said Pastor Mark Burns, CEO of a Christian television network based in South Carolina. “Trump does this all of the time, too. He’s giving reverence to the man upstairs.”
“Even with Mr. Trump’s billions of dollars, he too still submits himself to God,” said Burns, who has become a top Trump surrogate and a staple on the campaign trail, frequently introducing the candidate at rallies. “We should all chip in to help him out. You know, even a billionaire needs some cash flow.”
[…]
“Preliminary discussions” are happening within evangelical circles to help Trump raise money—particularly in new age evangelical circles, where many of the leaders have become best-selling authors, top-selling Christian musicians and even minor-celebrities in their own right, Burns said.
And Trump is even beginning to make inroads with more traditional evangelical donors who backed religious conservative candidates who have now dropped out of the presidential race.
Foster Friess, the billionaire who supports Christian conservative causes, told Bloomberg Politics that he predicts conservatives will eventually rally behind Trump.
Sure, and if I wear a PETA t-shirt while eating a 20 oz. T-bone steak, I’m a vegan.
What got me was “even a billionaire needs cash flow”. I think when you have billions of dollars, you can get your own fucking cash flow.
Caine #2
The problem is that in order to get to be a billionaire you have to get accustomed for cash flowing in one direction only. It’s a habit that is hard to break.
“You know, even a billionaire needs some cash flow.” ??!! Christ of the Andes.
What happened to Mr. I’m-Paying-For-Everything-Myself-And-Am-Not-Beholden-To-Anyone?
#2 & #3
Every “self-made” billionaire knows you never use your own money, always use someone else’s. Trump got his billions by starting with hundreds of millions of dollars of NY real estate he got from his daddy, and then borrowed from, and sometimes even scammed, banks and other investors for the rest. Plus, of course, the occasional strategic bankruptcy. Also, he has constantly lied about his true net worth. Forbes magazine says his $10 billion is more like $4 billion.
Kestrel @ 4:
Oh, that’s in the article too. He’s decided that being funded is the way to go.
Why would a believing Christian support a serial adulterer who is the classic rich man who has less chance of getting into heaven than a camel has of getting through the eye of a needle and who has never done a thing in his life to help the poor when they could have a woman who stood by her wedding vows even when her guy cheated and has worked to provide the poor with legal assistance and health care? I mean, there are certainly things that Clinton has done that are anti-Christian (i.e. supporting the bombing of Libya), but Trump has done nothing pro-Christian and is the canonical person that Jesus would have tossed out of the temple. I mean, literally, canonical. I must conclude that evangelicals aren’t really Christians. Not in the sense that Jesus was.
Dianne:
1) Trump is pandering to them; who knows what kind of shit he’s promising them.
2) Most of the evangelicals supporting him are in the filthy rich class themselves.
3) Trump is not a feminist, he doesn’t like women much at all.
4) Trump is a full court bigot, doesn’t like all those immigrants with the wrong religion.
5) Trump has already stated that he’d repeal the protections for GLBT people.
6) Trump thinks guns are great. Guns for everyone!