“They think very effectively. They want to arrange a number of things. At the time, it was still about abortion of course. They wanted a pro-life president, a better position for Israel and a strong economy. Trump provided that,” says Van den Brink. NOS with a view of tomorrow. “A lot of these Christians say, ‘He may be a strange man. But we elected not a Sunday school teacher, but a president. He had to deliver and he did.'”
storming the capitol
Van den Brink was there before and after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. That day he changed his mind about what American Christians did, says Van den Brink. “I really thought it was a different substance on Trump than it was back then. They said, ‘Not everything he did is nice.’ But it’s not that they say ‘He should go and he should never come back.'”
According to Van den Brink, most Christians are now hoping for another Republican candidate. “The same policy as Trump. But if he does it again by himself, we will vote for him again.”
Reality
In one episode, Van den Brink travels to Michigan where he visits Ed McBroom, the Republican senator who investigated so-called election fraud. “This is really a guy who I think is trying to do the right thing. He started the investigation into the election because there was a lot of turmoil around it. He took people’s concerns seriously and started investigating them. Bottom line: a lot has gone wrong, but even if it goes the way it goes,” he said. Alright, Biden would have won.”
“To his surprise, he sees that the people of his environment, whom he thought were friends, really turn away from him and say, ‘You are going to hell,'” says van den Brink. “Some of these supporters don’t really want to know what’s really going on.”
conspiracy theories
For the documentary, Van den Brink also spoke to conspiracy theorists in Montana. They were also storming the Capitol. “Man says, ‘We were in the Capitol and Trump told us to walk there in peace. We went there in peace. We didn’t see all the riots I saw. This guy also denied that anything happened peacefully.'” Presenter explains. . “But later in the same place I met someone who was there as well. He said, ‘I’ve already seen a riot. Now they’ve been arrested too.'”
Van den Brink called a “programmer” in a conversation with a conspiracy theorist. “A little before that, I told him that I had been vaccinated. Then something broke up inside of him. Until that moment he thought I was a nice guest. After that too, it remained very friendly. But from that moment on he thought he was a nice guest.” “Liberal” at last This boy isn’t good either, and suddenly I’m programmed.”
Keep talking to the man. “I kind of clicked on this guy, Rich Lewis, mountain man. I thought this was interesting. We have a massive black image of these conspiracy thinkers, and rightly so. But they are also just people and you can talk. And I hope that if more people talk to them Things can change.”
in conversation
“I try to paint a picture of these people, because people in Holland need it. Who are these people? How do they think and what is their world, so I can keep up with the raised finger, but that won’t do any good.”
“On the other hand, it also tries to explain how people here in the Netherlands think and gauge their reaction. I think that’s a good thing.”
Three-part docuseries “God, Jesus, Trump!” It can be seen on NPO2 on October 24, 25 and 26.
