The transparent reason Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett

He needs the white evangelical vote. Barrett could secure it for him.

Trump and Barrett
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

If you are still struggling to understand why evangelical Christians so heartily embrace President Trump — perhaps the closest thing in American life to a walking, breathing personification of the seven deadly sins — the answer came this weekend with his utterly unsurprising nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

The math here is simple: Trump has reason to believe he owes his 2016 election, in part, to overwhelming support from white evangelicals. He hopes they'll help carry him across the finish line again in 2020. For more than a generation, the No. 1 evangelical political goal has been to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court ruling that the Constitution protects a woman's right to have an abortion. And Barrett seems almost certain to supply that vote.

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.