It’s October 2019, and in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, then president Donald Trump stands at his desk in a blue suit, his eyes closed. Around him are 25 people, also smartly dressed, and with their eyes shut too. With a few exceptions, they’re mostly middle-aged white men, and those of them nearest to Trump lay their hands on him while the room falls silent in prayer.
Among the usual suspects – right-wing evangelicals like American Values president Gary Bauer, First Baptist Dallas senior pastor Robert Jeffress, and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins – are a female televangelist named Paula White-Cain, and the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Samuel Rodriguez.
