A new book alleges former President Donald Trump ripped into Iowa evangelicals who wouldn't endorse him in a profane tirade, according to The Guardian.
"The new book, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, by Tim Alberta, an influential reporter and staff writer for the Atlantic, will be published on 5 December," reported Martin Pengelly. "Early in the book, Alberta describes fallout from an event at Liberty University, the evangelical college in Virginia, shortly before the Iowa vote in January 2016."
Trump reportedly grew enraged after he was roundly mocked in evangelical circles for his faux pas of saying "Two Corinthians" rather than "Second Corinthians" when asked to name his favorite part of the Bible — particularly those backing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who was running against Trump at the time.
“When Cruz’s allies began using the ‘Two Corinthians’ line to attack him in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Trump told one Iowa Republican official, ‘You know, these so-called Christians hanging around with Ted are some real pieces of sh-t,’” wrote Alberta, continuing that "in private over the coming years," Trump would “use even more colourful language to describe the evangelical community.”
All of this comes amid a new rift in the evangelical community that has seen Bob Vander Plaats, a powerful religious figure in Iowa, throwing his weight behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for 2024 instead.
That endorsement has already set off fireworks among some evangelicals, with Pastors for Trump director Jackson Lehmeyer comparing Vander Plaats to a "street whore."
