See update for July 29, 2024, at end of post.
On the one hand, we have Donald Trump saying, “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. … You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”[1]
On the other hand, we have David Lane, whom I’ve never heard of but is described as “an organizer of conservative Christian pastors,”[2] saying, “Evangelicals in 2028, 2032, and 2036 must raise their civics game to a new level if America is to return to the Judeo-Christian heritage and Biblical-based culture laid out by the founders,”[3] explaining (in the Washington Post's partial paraphrase) “that ‘somebody’s values will reign supreme in the public square,’ and if Christians don’t vote, their values will not be reflected in their elected officials.”[4] But if you don't have elected officials, there's no one to vote for, hence the obvious alarm expressed by Democrats.[5]
If I were an evangelical Protestant, I know who would have more credibility with me. I don’t know how else reasonably to interpret Trump’s remarks than to promise a theocracy—Gilead, from Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale[6]— that would indeed “fix it so good” such that I “don’t have to vote again.” As Jennifer Mercieca notes, it's a “big promise”[7] that arguably undermines Trump's disavowal of Project 2025.[8]
If you believe Trump can deliver on that promise, then evangelical Protestants can find it reasonable. If you’re skeptical, Lane’s an evangelical Protestant's man.
Update, July 29, 2024: In our previous installment,[9] we had Donald Trump saying, “Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. … You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”[10] I interpreted Trump’s remarks as promising evangelical Protestants “a theocracy—Gilead, from Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale[11]— that would indeed ‘fix it so good’ such that I ‘don’t have to vote again.’”[12]
According to Politico, “[New Hampshire Governor Chris] Sununu, a Republican, took the word ‘fixed’ to mean that the country could be repaired, rather than future elections to be ‘fixed’ to achieve a certain outcome.”[13]Indeed, this is a charitable—and I think dubious—interpretation.
But my—and it’s hardly mine alone—interpretation does not hinge on the connotation of ‘fixed.’ It hinges on Trump’s promise to evangelical Protestants that they’re “not going to have to vote.”[14] I wrote that “if you don't have elected officials, there's no one to vote for, hence the obvious alarm expressed by Democrats.”[15] [16] The understanding here is that if voting no longer matters, it is because—this reinforces the pejorative connotation of ‘fixed’—elections, if held at all, are a sham.
Also corrected quote in third paragraph of original.
[1] Donald Trump, quoted in Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[2] Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[3] David Lane, quoted in Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[4] Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[5] Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[6] Margaret Atwood, Handmaid's Tale (New York: Anchor, 1998).
[7] Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[8] Franco Ordoñez, "It seems like Project 2025 is everywhere. But what is it?" National Public Radio, July 11, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/07/11/nx-s1-5035272/project-2025-trump-biden-heritage-foundation-conservative
[9] David Benfell, “Donald Trump promises Gilead,” Not Housebroken, July 28, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/donald-trump-promises-gilead
[10] Sarah McCammon and Juliana Kim, “Trump tells Christian voters they 'won't have to vote anymore' if he's elected,” National Public Radio, July 27, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/07/27/nx-s1-5054272/trump-christian-wont-vote-anymore-speech
[11] Margaret Atwood, Handmaid's Tale (New York: Anchor, 1998).
[12] David Benfell, “Donald Trump promises Gilead,” Not Housebroken, July 28, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/donald-trump-promises-gilead
[13] David Cohen, “Trump’s ‘won’t have to vote anymore’ remark didn’t mean anything, Chris Sununu claims,” Politico, July 28, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/28/trump-wont-have-to-vote-anymore-sununu-00171529
[14] Sarah McCammon and Juliana Kim, “Trump tells Christian voters they 'won't have to vote anymore' if he's elected,” National Public Radio, July 27, 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/07/27/nx-s1-5054272/trump-christian-wont-vote-anymore-speech
[15] Maegan Vazquez and Sarah Ellison, “Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark,” Washington Post, July 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/27/trump-faces-backlash-four-years-you-dont-have-vote-again-remark/
[16] David Benfell, “Donald Trump promises Gilead,” Not Housebroken, July 28, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/donald-trump-promises-gilead