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Author: Jason Opal, Associate Professor of History, McGill University

U.S. President Donald Trump’s bigotry is no longer in question. Most recently he has called Haiti, the largest Black nation in our hemisphere, a “shithole” whose people “all have AIDS.”

The man’s a racist, period. So are many of his fans.

The puzzle is how Trump came to be a symbol of national pride for evangelical Protestants who value strict morality and good manners. In 2016, 80 per cent of white evangelicals voted for a thrice-married vulgarian of no evident piety, a slightly higher level of support than they showed for choir boy Mitt Romney and born-again George W. Bush. Why?

The quick answer is that these conservatives wanted anyone but Hillary Clinton and knew that Trump would appoint pro-life judges. And yet they’ve mostly stuck with The Donald through a rough first year, suggesting a real affinity rather than a marriage of convenience.