As Donald Trump blustered his way through his one-term presidency, dogged by accusations of sexual assault, a fascination with authoritarian leaders, and reviled for his apparent fondness for racists, America’s white evangelical Christians largely stood firmly by his side.
Evangelical leaders justified their support for Trump by comparing him to King Cyrus, who in the biblical telling liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity, despite himself being a Persian ruler who did not believe in