Here's TPM contributor Sarah Posner on why the corporate media has missed the story of the Christian right. It's a bit disorganized and self-referential so it's difficult to summarize, but I think the last two paragraphs tell the basic tale:
Trump fully understands how his Christian nationalist base uses spiritual warfare to paint a picture of an America under siege by anti-Christian, anti-American, satanic forces that only an anointed strongman leader can vanquish. Trump’s rise to power did not happen in a vacuum, or just because many Americans thought he was a successful businessman, or because most Americans support his brutal deportation policies. (They don’t.) A radical religious movement that views strongman leaders, even abusive ones, as essential to carrying out a divine plan for themselves and for America, helped propel him to power, and keep him there.
Just because Trump now occupies the White House (again) doesn’t mean that this movement is mainstream. It is maddeningly possible for the country to be led by an authoritarian fundamentally at odds with the desires of the majority, owing to how this movement, fueled by deep-pocketed donors, has become the core of the Republican electorate. It’s a challenge to tell that story, to help people understand that they do not have to accept the fringe as mainstream, or to accede to their mythic claims to represent the “true” America. Especially now, as Trump seeks to punishingly control the media, maintaining this kind of coverage is absolutely essential to the task we have before us as Americans.
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