Atlantic article on Trump and religion (and about Trump and Mormon church)

[jfro18]

There's a new article from the Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... rs/616522/) this morning about how Trump really views religious leaders, and it's written by a believing Mormon named McKay Coppins. It focuses on Trump and Mormons at the end and I found it fascinating:

One religious group that the Trump campaign is keenly fixated on this year is Mormons. In 2016, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejected the Republican ticket in unprecedented numbers. To win them over in 2020, the campaign has made Donald Trump Jr. its envoy, sending him to campaign in Utah and other Mormon-heavy states. The president’s son has cultivated relationships with high-profile conservatives in the faith. Earlier this year, he invoked Mormon pioneers in a call with reporters to describe his father’s “innovative spirit.”

In fact, according to two senior Utah Republicans with knowledge of the situation, Don Jr. has been so savvy in courting Latter-day Saints—expressing interest in the Church’s history, reading from the Book of Mormon—that he’s left some influential Republicans in the state with the impression that he may want to convert. (A spokesman for Don Jr. did not respond to a request for comment.)

I’ve been curious about the president’s opinion of Mormonism ever since I interviewed him in 2014 at Mar-a-Lago. During our conversation, Trump began to strenuously argue that Mitt Romney’s exotic faith had cost him the 2012 election. When I interrupted to inform him that I’m also a Mormon, he quickly changed tack—extolling my Church’s many virtues, and then switching subjects. (He remained committed to his theory about 2012: During his September 2016 meeting with evangelical leaders, Trump repeatedly asserted that “Christians” didn’t turn out for Romney “because of the Mormon thing.”) I’ve always wondered what Trump might have said if I hadn’t cut him off.

When I shared this story with Cohen, he laughed. Trump, he said, frequently made fun of Romney’s faith in private—and was especially vicious when he learned about the religious undergarments worn by many Latter-day Saints. “Oh my god,” Cohen said. “How many times did he bring up Mitt Romney and the undergarments …”

I find it hilarious that any Utah Republicans actually think Donald Trump Jr is taking the Book of Mormon seriously, let alone enough to convert.

I also really wish Coppins did not tell Trump he was Mormon, because it seemed like he could've pulled some amazing quotes from Trump had he not effectively stopped his line of thought.

But I really love how hard some Mormon leaders are working for Trump only to see that he's just using them to try and squeak by in AZ.

If this should be in another forum, please move it - I thought it was fitting here since it's about the church specifically, but I know politics are tricky.

[Not Buying It]

Don Trump Jr. is a con man from a family of con men and con women- and as the number of people duped by con men in Utah attests, Mormons make excellent targets. Why? They are trusting. They've been taught their feelings tell them something about reality - get them to feel good about something and they think God Himself is talking to them about it. And they are very susceptible to flattery about their spirituality and religion.

Don Jr. May be a moron, but he knows a good mark when he sees one. Mormons crave external validation of their religious beliefs - if you are a famous person who feigns a little interest that makes them feel like you take their beliefs seriously, you can have them eating out of the palm of your hand in no time. Don Jr. saw the Mormons coming and knew how to play them. Not because he's smart, even an inept con man could get pretty far with such a credulous crowd. Its just like shooting fish in a barrel for someone like the Trumps.

But you would have to be pretty brain dead to think any of the Trumps have any interest whatsoever in joining the Church under any circumstances. Maybe if they'd got in on the con early à la Oliver Cowdery right at the beginning when they could get something out of it, but certainly not now.

[Red Ryder]

Mormons don’t realize their religion isn’t taken serious. So they think that the magic sauce will convert anyone under the right circumstances.

Remember, they think Mormonism is the prescription that will fix the world administered by Jesus himself.

That’s one of the eye opening realities I learned from my awakening. The world isn’t laughing WITH you. They are laughing AT you and your silly underwear!

[2bizE]

I saw this and couldn’t stop laughing...Mormons are so gullible.

[moksha]

To those who have known and worked with Trump closely, the notion that he might have a secret spiritual side is laughable. “I always assumed he was an atheist,” Barbara Res, a former executive at the Trump Organization, told me. “He’s not a religious guy,” A. J. Delgado, who worked on his 2016 campaign, told me. “Whenever I see a picture of him standing in a group of pastors, all of their hands on him, I see a thought bubble [with] the words ‘What suckers,’” Mary Trump, the president’s niece, told me.

So Don Jr. has been working the Mormons, eh? Running a variation on an affinity scam to get their votes. They don't seem to realize that turning Mormon would be bad for the Trump business. Make the Russki oligarchs uncomfortable.

[Wonderment]

Make the Russki oligarchs uncomfortab

Absolutely. When does the con ever stop? Everyone is seen by the Trump family as a gullible mark.