Never mind Fox. Trump's most reliable media mouthpiece is now Christian TV.

[DonViejo]

Church of The Donald

Never mind Fox. Trump’s most reliable media mouthpiece is now Christian TV.

By RUTH GRAHAM May/June 2018

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — The Music City campus of the Trinity Broadcasting Network is about a half-hour drive from Music City itself, in a placid Nashville suburb on a bend in the Cumberland River where the main road through town is called the Johnny Cash Parkway. TBN, America’s largest Christian television network, acquired the complex in 1994 after the death of country singer Conway Twitty, who had operated it as a sprawling tourist attraction he called Twitty City. Last year, TBN renovated Twitty’s personal auditorium, leveling the floor, adding large neon signs and a faux-brick backdrop under the original Corinthian columns. The resulting TV set looks like an urban streetscape framed by a Greek temple.

On a February night, in his large office just above the auditorium, the network’s biggest star is making last-minute plans for what’s shaping up to be a busy evening. First, Mike Huckabee fields some logistics for dinner at his nearby condo, where he will host three couples who won the privilege in a charity auction. He takes a call from the actor Jon Voight, who tells Huckabee he is free to do an interview about Israel. (Huckabee leaves the next day for Jerusalem, where TBN opened another studio a few years ago.) He checks with one of his producers about an old “Laugh-In” clip Huckabee had requested. “We aren’t paying $6,500 for it, good gosh!” he laughs when he hears the cost of the snippet. “Did they point a gun at your head and wear a ski mask when you asked that?” (They decide not to use it.)

Two hours later, Huckabee walks onto a stage in front of more than 200 people and kicks off a taping of his hourlong cable show. For nearly all of its 45-year history, Trinity’s programming had been strictly religious, a mix of evangelical preachers, gospel music and a flagship talk show called “Praise the Lord” (now just “Praise”). But Huckabee’s show is saturated with politics. The former two-term governor of Arkansas and one-time Iowa caucus winner opens with a disquisition on the Fourth Amendment (“Our system is designed to make sure the government is your servant”) leading into a pre-taped interview with Senator Rand Paul. It’s followed by an appearance by Kayleigh McEnany, the Republican National Committee spokeswoman and a frequent campaign surrogate for Donald Trump. The crowd roars with laughter when Huckabee promises he won’t go on for as long as Nancy Pelosi, a reference to her recent filibuster-style speech on the House floor. “Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi for eight hours?” he asks, chuckling. “NO!” the audience shouts back.

When “Huckabee” made its debut on TBN last fall, it immediately became the network’s highest-rated show, with more than a million viewers for a typical episode. Unlike every other show the network has produced, it is overtly political and squarely focused on current events. It has a variety component, with musical guests and comedians, and Huckabee occasionally breaks out his own bass guitar on stage. But in its six months on the air, Huckabee has also interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump-defending Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, anti-abortion activist Serrin Foster and former Senator Joe Lieberman. The very first guest on his very first show, last October, was President Trump.

A generation ago—even a few years ago—this would have been unthinkable. Christian TV was largely the province of preachers, musicians, faith healers and a series of televangelism scandals. Politicians were leery of getting too close. To establishment evangelicals, not to mention the rest of America, Christian TV was hokey at best, and disreputable at worst.

more
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/22/trump-christian-evangelical-conservatives-television-tbn-cbn-218008

[democratisphere]

1. The association makes perfect sense.

Evangelical so-called preachers and drumpf are some of the biggest con-artists in the world.

[ooky]

5. They worship money.

They are the height of hypocrisy.

[rurallib]

11. don't forget power - they worship that also

their most fervent dream is them running a christian America.

Welcome to DU

[ooky]

16. True that, and thanks.

[workinclasszero]

2. Trump worship is a full on cult now

He is the 'savior' of the deplorables, its plain to see.

[bluestarone]

4. this

[33taw]

3. Sadly, we react to every piece of crap he says, feeding him further.

I wish we would focus on the issues rather than all his twittter rhetoric.

[mac56]

7. I think it's important to do both.

[33taw]

8. Some of it yes, but I think a great deal of it is distraction.

[Iliyah]

6. They are intertwined

[dalton99a]

9. There is no Christ in any of them

[workinclasszero]

13. There it is

Perfect

[bluestarone]

15. love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

good one!

[VOX]

10. Good old TBN, founded by Tammy Faye & Jim Bakker, and Paul Crouch & Jan Crouch...

The so-called “Christian network” has a history of fraud, power struggles, backstabbing, extortion, lawsuits (by Paul Crouch’s alleged gay lover, for example), counter-suits, rape (the Crouch’s granddaughter alleged that she was raped at age 13 by a TBN employee; last year she was awarded $2 million).

“Be sure and let us know how the Lord has touched your life, and don’t forget to tuck that little “love gift” into the envelope.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Broadcasting_Network

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. The very reason I am not religious--Blatant Hypocrisy.nt

[Initech]

14. Why? Why do churches love this guy?

There was an attack on a local orthodox church here this week which I know people who attend this church. And guess what? They not only voted but campaigned for the Orange Douchebag. They voted for and support the rise in hate crimes in this country. Talk about voting against their best interests. And next week they'll go back to parroting whatever they hear on Fox News because it's what their tribe tells them to do. So they will have learned absolutely nothing. God damn it.

[ooky]

17. It rots from the head down.

Falwell Jr., Graham Jr., Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen, etc. etc.. Look at the Evangelical leaders who say they follow the example of Christ while they drape themselves in gold. It's hard to miss what's wrong with this picture.