Pollak: Dobbs Decision Confirms Religious Voters’ View of Trump in 2016

On the day before the 2016 election, I met a woman at a Trump rally in Sarasota, Florida, who was holding a sign that said “God have mercy on America.” I asked her why she was supporting Trump if she placed her faith in God to save the country.

After all, Trump had hardly been a paragon of virtue or an exemplar of faith during his many decades in public life. Her answer was simple: God chooses vessels to carry out His mission, and Trump — however flawed — seemed to be that vessel.

That is, essentially, how religious voters of many persuasions viewed Trump. Demonized by the media (falsely) as some kind of antisemite, Trump turned out to be the most pro-Israel president since Harry S. Truman, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, crafting the Abraham Accords, and ending the Iran nuclear deal. This was a record not even critics in the Jewish community could deny.

Likewise with the pro-life movement. As my colleague John Nolte has pointed out, the Never Trump faction of Republicans insisted that Trump lacked the moral character to be president. Some predicted he would betray social conservative voters.

And yet Trump promised to nominate conservative, constitutionalist judges, including those who would be opening to a reversal of the Roe v. Wade precedent. Trump even suggested that a reversal would be automatic once he nominated them.

Nearly eighteen months since leaving office in tumultuous circumstances, Trump’s promise has been fulfilled in the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. He was, indeed, the vessel for a dramatic change that few thought would be possible.

There is a caveat, however: the Bible is replete with figures who were vessels for one purpose, but not another. With this historical purpose fulfilled, Trump may find religious voters grateful, but open to new alternatives.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.