“Trump Will Never Run for President”: Mormon Trump Naysayer Will Cover Trump’s Presidency
29-year-old BYU journalism grad McKay Coppins was positive of one thing: Trump would never, ever run for President.
Coppins, a Mormon reporter, was certainly in good company. Much of the population — in and out of the U.S. — was shocked by Trump’s announcement that he would run for President in the 2016 election, nor did they anticipate that he could (and would) actually win.
In 2014, Coppins, who was a political reporter for Buzzfeed, wrote a piece on Donald Trump and why his potential candidacy was a joke.
“If history is any judge, Trump is about as likely to run for president in his lifetime as he is to accept follicular defeat,” Coppins wrote.
Trump did not take kindly to the article, and personally attacked Coppins and Buzzfeed, calling them “garbage.”
However, all the media attention may be why Coppins is now set to cover none other than the presidency of Donald Trump, the man whom he never dreamed could be President.
“The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.’s legendary magazine, announced it had lured the 29-year-old Coppins to move to the nation’s capital and join its staff, hiring him to do the same thing he did for BuzzFeed: keep covering Donald J. Trump — now that he got him elected.”
Read more at Deseret News.
Jimmer Fredette Earns All-Star Title
Beloved BYU basketball star Jimmer Fredette recently received some exciting news: he has been chosen to represent his team in the CBA All-Star game next month.
For those of you that aren’t fluent in sports-speak (e.g. those of you who nod and pretend to understand when people throw out terms like “first down” or “pinch hitter,” but are secretly crying inside because you’re so confused), CBA stands for Chinese Basketball Association.
Fredette is currently playing in the CBA for the Shanghai Sharks, and has had a phenomenal season, making him an obvious choice for the CBA’s All-Star game.
“…on Christmas Day, my little brother blessed us with a 43 point performance, leading his Shanghai Sharks to another important victory in his Christmas debut, and then just today, the news broke that Jimmer was selected to represent the sharks in the CBA All-Star game this coming month!” wrote Fredette’s older brother TJ in a recent blog post.
Read more at TJ Fredette’s blog.
LDS Teen Featured on ‘Project Runway: Junior’
When you were 14, you were probably just trying to figure out how to put on mascara without poking your eye. Or perhaps trying to find the exact right amount of Axe to use since all of your friends smelled like they’d fallen into a vat of it.
Latter-day Saint teen Allie Lunt, however, is doing something a bit more prestigious: she’s designing clothes on the junior version of the fan-favorite show Project Runway.
Lunt, a ninth-grader with a flair for fashion and design, was one of 12 teens picked from across the country to be a contestant on the show.
“Allie said she loved the show, which includes fashion school graduates to self-taught designers, even before she was able to understand what it was. She asked her mom, Sarah Lunt, if a show was made for younger designers if she could participate. Last year, the network launched a version for youths ages 13-17. After a second season was announced, mother and daughter went to work to submit pictures of Allie’s work and an audition video,” reported Deseret News.
When Allie was accepted as one of the 12 contestants, she was thrilled. But she vowed to not make light of her standards, stating that modesty was very important to her throughout the show’s filming.
The show premiered Dec 22 on Lifetime, so make sure to tune in and see what Lunt was able to create.
Read more at Deseret News.
LDS Church Grows More Transparent Than Ever with Essays on Mormon History Featured in Gospel Library App
Were you aware that the Church has published 11 essays on various topics from “Plural Marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” to “The Book of Mormon and DNA Studies”? And if you were aware, have you actually read them?
The answer for most Latter-day Saints is probably no, and that’s a shame since these essays cover so many involved questions posed by Church members and people not of our faith alike.
However, these essays are featured in the new Gospel Library update, granting more accessibility as well as visibility for Latter-day Saints everywhere. They can be be found in the Church History section, under the “Gospel Topics Essays” tab.
“I think it’s a win for transparency and honesty,” said [Patrick] Mason, the Howard W. Hunter Chair in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. “I think it’s a win for the relationship between the Church and scholarship. I think it’s a win for historical accuracy and the confidence that we can deal with tough issues inside the Church.”
Read more at Deseret News.
