Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is wooing white evangelical Christians in an effort to tempt the vital election bloc away from former President Donald Trump, the New York Times reported Friday.
And he might be finding some converts.
After DeSantis addressed 10,000 students at Liberty University in Virginia Thursday, the Times spoke to attendees – and found many tempted by Trump’s presumed opponent for the Republican presidential nomination.
His stance against abortion, his push to tackle “wokism” in schools and other conservative agendas has impressed many, said the school’s leader of the campus’ College Republicans club, Jesse Hughes.
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“He’s willing to take bold stances and not cave to media pressure,” he said.
In an ongoing poll of the club’s members, DeSantis has the lead, Hughes said – 87 votes compared to Trump’s 52.
“What I’m seeing is definite interest in DeSantis, but not a rejection of Trump” Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a historian at evangelical Calvin University in Michigan and the author of “Jesus and John Wayne,” told the Times.
Trump handily won the evangelical bloc in 2016, and its support for him increased in 2020. Criminal indictments against him and several ongoing investigations have appeared to have done little damage to his appeal.
But DeSantis tough stance on abortion – on Thursday he signed a law barring the procedure six weeks after conception – and his efforts to remove discussion of gender identity in some school grades, have proved popular among the Christian right.
But he still has work to do to replace Trump. Jerry Falwell Jr., the extremely influential evangelical and former president of Liberty, told the Times: “I’ve got nothing against DeSantis at all, I just don’t think he’s ready for prime time yet.”
He added that he “looks like a little boy.”
