MEDIA/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “It was the morning after another breathtaking revelation about President Trump and a $130,000 payment to a pornographic film actress, and dozens of reporters crowded into the White House Rose Garden, seeking answers. When one of them shouted a question about the payment, the president simply walked away. Standing nearby, on a ceremonial balcony overlooking the West Wing, was another reporter, David Brody, waiting for a private interview with Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Brody, the chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, was not there to inquire about porn stars. It was the National Day of Prayer, and Mr. Brody asked the vice president whether he was tired of defending his anti-abortion views amid ‘potshots’ from comedians, and whether prayer was ‘alive and well in the White House.’ He inquired whether Mr. Pence would attend the opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem, scheduled to take place Monday…While Mr. Trump attacks major news organizations and suggests revoking media credentials for outlets he deems ‘Fake News,’ Mr. Brody and his network enjoy a closeness to the White House that is foreign to most reporters. In return, Mr. Trump gets a direct line to his most supportive voters, the conservative evangelicals who make up CBN’s core audience. Their allegiance is critical to his success; more than 80 percent of white evangelicals who went to the polls in 2016 voted for Mr. Trump.”
-Elizabeth Dias, “An Evangelical Journalist Finds His Calling at the White House,” The New York Times online, May 14, 2018