Nothing like a failed assassination attempt to make a person stop, pause, and think about what life is really about. But Donald Trump is not one to wax poetic about life’s meaning and change his ways. He’s a doer, more than a philosopher. He’s determined to get back into the Oval Office, and he is laser focused – as much as he is able to – on winning the prize.
Donald Trump, like much of America, is not a very religious man. One the other hand, there are tens of millions of people across America, especially in the South, that are fervent about their religiousness. Donald Trump understands this well and is therefore respectful to religiousness.
Donald Trump has actually shored up the religious right-wing voters with three moves that he made in his 1st term. Three approved Supreme Court judges – Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh. Every one of those nominees was a home run on multiple levels. They are all the kinds of Supreme Court Justices that satisfy the right wing of the Republican Party. Yet, they are clearly not the same on all issues – they have already had different opinions on core issues. They were all eminently qualified to be nominated, based on their accomplishments in the past. And most of all, they are all extremely impressive under fire and all young.
Not only was Neil Gorsuch impressive through his smooth approval process, so was Brett Kavanaugh who was disgustingly treated like a horrible womanizer for going to a party in college. But Amy Coney Barrett, the youngest of the three, actually blew away all of the Senators who tried to stop her approval. They simply could not paint her in a negative light as there was too much good to praise. A mother of seven who climbs up the ladder of law to become a nominee to the Supreme Court, while adopting a poor black child along the way, simply cannot be turned into a monster. The way she handled the “concern” that her personal religiousness would somehow negatively impact her Supreme Court decisions was simply masterful. Yes, it would inform. Yes, it would impact. But the law is not dictated by personal aspects anywhere close to the way that the law is based on precedent.
These three Supreme Court nominations were all moves that the not-so-religious President Trump made that will keep America’s Justice System on an even keel. He will get the religious right vote and it is well-deserved.