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The quest for the

authentic voice:
Donald Trump,
evangelism
and the DUP
Dr Paddy Hoey
Edge Hill University
paddy.hoey@edgehill.ac.uk
Brexit, Trump and presumption of the
universal populist right wing rebellion
u Error to presume that there
were common ideological
grounds for a global/
European rise of the right:
u Anti-globalism
u Anti-political correctness
u Anti-immigration
u Anti-statist
Brexit, Trump and presumption of the
universal populist right wing rebellion
u Error to presume that there
were common ideological
grounds for a global/
European rise of the right:
u Anti-globalism
u Anti-political correctness
u Anti-immigration
u Anti-statist
u More important to see the
local and national reasons
for the rise of the right in
individual spaces
u Macron and
underperformance of right in
Germany, stalling of UKIP
Election Exit Polls, New York Times, 8/11/ 2016. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/politics/election-exit-polls.html
Accessed: 6/11/217
However, common links with NI

u Democratic Unionists were enthusiastic supporters of Trump and the American


right
u Shared set of values with the European right, but that did not share the
Christian values of DUP
u The values of the evangelical right, which supported Trump, after previously
supporting Ted Cruz, congruent in NI
u Christian right were a huge element of the Trump success, but were a section
of an uneasy coalition of conservative interests
Search for authentic voice
u Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a
theocon grouping whose ideas are
unusual in todays western Europe. To an
American, especially from the deep
South, the party would seem much more
familiar.
u The DUP is a movement rooted in
conservative and ultra-conservative
forms of Christianity. It successfully
hauls in votes from that section of
society without completely alienating
the more secular parts of its natural
electoral base, which consists of pro- Erasmus, Ulsters old-time religion: The
clerical roots of the Democratic Unionist
British voters in Northern Ireland. You Party, the Economist, 9 June 2017.
Available at:
might call it a mixture of old-time https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/
religion and secular nativism. 2017/06/ulster-s-old-time-religion.
Accessed on: 6 November 2017.
I encouraged him and gave him my views on
what I though his message was saying to the
grassroots, authentic Americans. He has also
tapped into something very important.
I believe in 30 years from now, when this
period of our time is being taught in history
classes, this will be 2016 year of revolution:
a revolution in our relationship with Europe
and now we have seen a revolutionary
change in the grassroots, ordinary, authentic
voice of America fighting back and saying:
We want something more from the voice of
our politicians we're not satisfied with the
professional political class. We want politics
to be authentic.
I think that's very, very important.
u Ian Paisley Jr, BBC Radio 5, November 16
2016.
Nobody likes us, we dont care:
Trump, the DUP and evangelicals
u in this part of Ireland we shouldnt be that shocked by Donald Trumps mandate or
the views he holds, because much of what he stands for mirrors the thinking of
Stormonts dominant political party, the DUP.
John Manley, Common ideological threads link Donald Trump and the DUP, Irish News,
14 November 2016.
u Evangelicals know hes not a real Christian, but theyre pragmatic about
overturning Roe v Wade, and generally agree with his economic plan of
deregulation, lowering taxes, and keeping undocumented immigrants out One of
the reasons I support him is he doesnt say whats politically correct, Jerry Falwell
Jr, Liberty University For them (evangelicals), being despised by the world is a
badge of honor that will ensure them a heavenly reward For them, being despised
by the world is a badge of honor that will ensure them a heavenly reward.
Josiah Hesse, Donald Trump is no saint, but I know why evangelicals love him, the
Guardian, 5 September 2017. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/05/donald-trump-why-do-evangelicals-
support-him. Accessed 6 November 2017
Key common central ideological issues

u Anti-abortion (Roe v Wade)


u Against same sex marriage,
Ashers Bakery, Mike Pence
(gay cure therapies) and
Iris Robinson
abomination
u Anti-immigration
u Creationism and intelligent
design
u Against climate change
and climate change
legislation
u Laissez faire attitude
to environment and
farming
Key common central ideological issues

u Anti-abortion (Roe v Wade)


u Against same sex marriage,
Ashers Bakery, Mike Pence
(gay cure therapies) and
Iris Robinson
abomination
u Anti-immigration
u Creationism and intelligent
design
u Against climate change
and climate change
legislation
u Laissez faire attitude
to environment and
farming
Key common central ideological issues

u Anti-abortion (Roe v Wade)


u Against same sex marriage,
Ashers Bakery, Mike Pence
(gay cure therapies) and
Iris Robinson
abomination
u Anti-immigration
u Creationism and intelligent
design
u Against climate change
and climate change
legislation
u Laissez faire attitude
to environment and
farming
Key common central ideological issues

u Anti-abortion (Roe v Wade)


u Against same sex marriage,
Ashers Bakery, Mike Pence
(gay cure therapies) and
Iris Robinson
abomination
u Anti-immigration
u Creationism and intelligent
design
u Against climate change
and climate change
legislation
u Laissez faire attitude
to environment and
farming
Conclusions
u Final desperate cries of conservatives facing inevitability of demographic
transformations?
u Twilight of religious conservatism as a political force?
u In US, electorate has been becoming more racially and politically diverse since the
1970s
u GOPs response has been to gradually ratchet-up Civil War racial politics which had their
apotheosis in Trump

u In Northern Ireland, secularism is growing, but the religious binary remains


important and Catholics will become majority community on head counte

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