USAToday: Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump, brought to you by Mike Pence and the religious right

Thank Mike Pence and evangelicals for Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels. As they force their religion on everyone but their allies, the hypocrisy has never been more naked.

Jason Sattler, Opinion columnist
March 26, 2018

Congratulations, Mike Pence!

Since Donald Trump gave America’s kids the chance to learn about “Stormy Daniels,” his approval with self-identified white evangelical Protestants has risen 6%. Yes, amid a controversy about hush money to hide an affair involving a woman best known for performing in adult films, an alleged affair that took place just months after Trump’s third wife gave birth to their son, the president’s standing has actually improved with a group of voters who spent most of this century fretting about the sanctity of marriage.

The hypocrisy here is as obvious as Trump’s hundreds of conflicts of interests. American evangelicals, by and large, have decided that they can ignore Trump’s personal morality because they are getting something far more important in return — the chance to impose their personal morality on others.

And their role model for this devil’s deal is the evangelical who made the Trump presidency possible: Mike Pence.

“Trump’s got the populist nationalists,” said Steve Bannon, CEO of the Trump-Pence campaign in 2016. “But Pence is the base. Without Pence, you don’t win.”

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/03/26/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-thanks-mike-pence-evangelicals-column/457212002/