Let me give you a peck, JC.

No thanks. I’m good.

Donald Trump stands with Jesus Christ, but so did Judas Iscariot, and how did that turn out? Don’t let Trump kiss you, JC!

The thrice-married liar, braggart and casino owner is baffled that Iowa voters who identify as evangelicals seem to be turning away from his brand. How can they forsake him when he’s arguably slightly more moral than fellow entrepreneur Dennis Hof?

The usual grab bag of GOP zealots and loudmouths (the Huckabees, Christies and Santorums) have fallen by the wayside this campaign season, unable to gain any helium, because Trump preemptively out-crazied them with the hardcore wingnuts of the party with his hateful brand of xenophobia, racism and sexism.

Alas, someone even wackier came along in the form of Dr. Ben Carson, who divides his enemies into neat piles of Nazis and slaveowners. While Trump is a panderer to the worst impulses, Carson is a true believer in them. I mean, this is a guy who thinks there’s actually a devil with a pitchfork. Game on!

From Jenna Johnson at the Washington Post:

This was Trump’s second rally in less than a week in Iowa. But he returned to a far different landscape than the one he’d left days earlier. Since he was last here, Trump has seen his solid lead in the state evaporate as four new polls reported Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, surging to claim the top spot. Trump was in standard campaign mode as he addressed a crowd of nearly 2,400 and took a few questions — but his usual complaints about illegal immigration, corporate inversion and jobs moving overseas were punctuated with new self-deprecating comments, humanizing details and a plea to voters here for the chance to be their president.

He also ran through some reasons why the polls might have shifted, placing a lot of blame on evangelicals.

“I do well with the evangelicals, but the evangelicals let me down a little bit,” Trump said. “I don’t know what I did.”

Trump told the crowd he’s “a great Christian” and described his favorite Bible, one inscribed by his mother. Each audience member was given a card showing two black-and-white photos, including one taken at Trump’s 1959 confirmation. Amid listing off his religious credentials, Trump stopped and begged once again: “Will you get the numbers up, Iowa, please? It’s ridiculous.”•