Q: Your book, God & Donald Trump reminds us that the media has done a poor job of covering the difference between support for President Trump among garden-variety Evangelicals versus Pentecostal Evangelicals like you. Can you talk about that difference?
Stephen Strang: Pentecostals believe in miracles, speaking in tongues and prophecy—something many more mainline Evangelicals have rejected. In the past, most Pentecostals have shown little interest in the political process. They considered it corrupt, worldly and something they couldn’t change, so they focused on prayer, missions, feeding the poor, church activities and the like. Recently, this has begun to change, with more political involvement arising when Pentecostal leaders such as Paula White-Cain, Kenneth Copeland and Darrell Scott began meeting with Donald Trump well before the primaries. I document this in God and Donald Trump.
Q: Why do you think Pentecostals came out so strong for Trump?
A: Paula White-Cain got to know Donald Trump in the early 2000s when he watched her TV program and called her office to discuss some questions about spiritual things. In 2012, when Trump was considering a run for the White House, he asked Paula, herself a Pentecostal pastor, to pull together a group of her friends who "know how to pray." He said he didn't want to ask for their support, only their prayers. They did pray, often with laying on of hands, which is common for Pentecostals. There are several videos on YouTube that show this. Trump seems to like being prayed for this way. He also accepted Pentecostals and invited them “to the table” when they had previously been excluded. He accepted them, and they supported him. My book documents the early supporters. Other than Jerry Falwell Jr., pastor Robert Jeffress and one or two other high-profile Evangelical leaders, his early support was only among Pentecostals. I know these people. I understand their mindset and subculture and try to explain it in my book.
Q: A number of them had dreams and visions that Trump would be president. What do you make of that as a Pentecostal yourself?
A: I document the stories of four Pentecostal leaders who prophesied Donald Trump would be president—against all odds. They believed God showed them this and that He was raising up Trump as the champion for traditional Judeo-Christian values, one who could hopefully move the country in another direction from the downward spiral we saw under President Obama. I also tell the story of a Catholic holy man who in the 1980s prophesied that businessman Donald Trump would turn America toward God.
Q: Pentecostals have traditionally been fairly apolitical. How has that changed with Trump?
A: This apolitical mindset is beginning to change. One reason is that as Christians become more marginalized and our religious liberties are curtailed, Pentecostals have realized they can no longer afford to be passive. During World War I, most Pentecostals were actually pacifists, although by the time of World War II, that had changed. With Trump, this is changing even more.
Q: You usually publish books. What made you want to write this one?
A: I've published more than 2,400 books since the mid-1980s, including 14 New York Times best-sellers. In 2003, I had the idea to publish a book called The Faith of George W. Bush and recruited a writer and it sold a half-million copies. This time, I felt there was a story to be told about the election. I wanted to write this one myself, since I'd actively supported Trump, interviewed him once and attended both his election-night party in New York and the inauguration. I also knew first hand how Evangelicals came to support Trump. I felt I was writing history in that I was getting an untold story on the record—that is, the religious significance of Trump's election and its impact on the direction of our country, as well as the unprecedented support of Evangelicals, who didn't even like him originally due to his reputation as a playboy, his involvement in gambling and his multiple marriages. Yet they came to see he'd changed and taken up their causes, and he has become their champion.
Q: You've been to the White House a number of times, and you've interviewed the President. What are your observations?
A: I interviewed Trump in Orlando in August, 2015 during the campaign. He gave me good answers which I include in the book. He was respectful and focused on my questions. He came across as kinder and more humble than his media persona. I had already endorsed him, but that day, he really won me over. I could sense something in his spirit was genuine, and I realized there's more to him than the media portrays.
Q: What do you say to those who say you're being played?
A: Time will tell if we're being played. And even if we were, what would have happened to our religious liberties and our values being a part of American culture had Hillary Clinton been elected? Sure, we took a risk with Trump. He's an unknown politically. But we knew exactly what we'd get with Hillary: more leftist policies and more corruption.
Q: Has your support for Trump cost you subscribers or friends?
A: We've lost a handful of subscribers, but we lost more when we failed to endorse Obama eight years ago. I've lost no friends. However, a couple of my more liberal relatives just avoid talking to me about Trump to keep from it causing a rift.
Q: Did you ever have qualms about supporting him?
A: Yes, I had qualms. Because of his past, he's not the type of candidate I am drawn to. I have supported Mike Huckabee and Marco Rubio in the past. Both of them, and several others, were more the type of candidate I felt comfortable supporting. I supported Ted Cruz in the primaries—as did most Evangelical leaders—until he dropped out. After that, I backed Trump 110 percent. Of course, the alternative was Hillary Clinton, and I would have supported almost anyone but her, even if I had qualms otherwise.
Q: Many of Trump's Christian supporters were thrilled about the decision to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. Why is that?
A: Bible-believing Christians know Israel is important in God's plan, and we believe the Jews returning to Jerusalem is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Evangelicals tend to be Christian Zionists. They want the U.S. to support Israel rather than continue the icy relationship that developed under Obama. They believed Trump when he said he'd move the embassy. Now that the U.S. has declared Jerusalem as Israel's capital, they are thrilled he's keeping his word. There's an entire section in God and Donald Trump that deals with Israel and a photo in the picture section of President Trump praying at the Western Wall.
Q: What do you say to those who say the support for Israel is because you want to see the end of the world ushered in? Is that a fair criticism?
A: It is absolutely unfair to speculate that Bible-believing Christians want to bring about the end of the world. In fact, I don't know of anyone who espouses that. Besides, many of the terrible wars in history already have been as bad as anything described in the book of Daniel or Revelation. Instead of focusing on the end of the world, we Evangelical Christians must stand for righteousness in the world, and we must live at peace with our fellow man.
Q: What books are you planning next?
A: I'll decide after the first of the year, but the next one will be a sequel to God and Donald Trump.