What do they even think they’re talking about? Values Voters, good old days, Creator, spiritual revival – what does any of that have to do with Donald you can grab them by the pussy Trump? What?

But for many evangelicals and conservative Catholics, “Make America Great Again” meant above all else returning to a time when the culture reflected and revolved around their Judeo-Christian values. When there was prayer in public schools. When marriage was limited to one man and one woman. When abortion was not prevalent and socially acceptable. When the government didn’t ask them to violate their consciences. And, yes, when people said “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”

We know, but what does that have to do with Trump?

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, the conservative group that organizes the Values Voter Summit, says Trump’s greatest impact is legitimizing those people and views that have been marginalized. “Barack Obama used the bully pulpit and the courts to demonize those who held to the very values that made America great. And Trump is doing the opposite,” Perkins says.

Really? What values? Racism? Racist murder? Did Obama use the bully pulpit to demonize those who held to the very values that made America great when he gave the eulogy for Clementa Pinckney in Charleston? Is Trump doing the opposite when he takes health insurance away from millions, when he insults people on Twitter, when he uses his office to enrich himself and his family?

What does Tony Perkins even think he’s talking about?

“It was never about the Ten Commandments; it was about the God who gave the Ten Commandments,” [Roy] Moore said. “We forget that what they really want to do in this land is remove the knowledge of God. That won’t happen, as far as I can see, because I think the people of God are rising up in this land today. In 2016 we were given a new lease, a new reason, and it’s upon us now.”

A new lease? By the most cynical, self-serving, greedy, ruthless, belligerent, dishonest person most of us have ever seen in public office (or anywhere else)? What does Roy Moore think he means?

Seated at the rear of the room, John and Jill Stabley nodded along. The older married couple from Delaware have attended the Values Voter Summit seven previous times, but this year feels different. “Suddenly hopeful,” Jill says. “We grew up in an era where people were thinking of others, and trying to do the right thing—.”

And Obama turned us away from that, and Trump is restoring us? She thinks Trump is about thinking of others while Obama was not? Seriously?

Many Christian voters embraced Trump not despite his provocative style but because of it, betting on a brash street brawler to win the culture battles they had been losing for generations. And their faith has been rewarded: From abortion policy to religious liberty to judicial appointments, Trump has delivered for social conservatives more than any other constituency, making them the unlikely cornerstone of his coalition.

With political victory, however, has come the loss of moral high ground for a faithful whose church-averse champion personifies much of what their scripture condemns. It’s a trade-off plenty of conservative Christians, reeling from eight years in which they felt ostracized and demeaned by Obama, the media and popular culture, have proven eager to accept.

So it’s not really the moral high ground they care about, it’s the domination. Helpful of them to make it so clear.