Jim Daly, the president of the influential global ministry Focus on the Family, had a simple answer when asked why Christians and evangelicals support President Trump, who sometimes acts in very un-Christian ways.
“We love 80% of his policies and 20% of his tweets,” said Daly, who pointed to the president’s record on fighting against abortion and for religious liberty while acknowledging that Trump isn’t perfect.
But sensing we wanted more, he told of having a chat with David Horowitz, author of the recent book Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America.
Said Daly, “He was saying to me that, ‘Don’t you guys know that you are in an alley fight, and the other side has switchblades?’”
Daly responded, “We get that. The problem with us is that we have to fight with love, joy, peace, goodness, and mercy. And I remember he sat back and said, ‘Wow, those aren’t very good weapons.’”
That’s where Trump comes in. “Trump is that alley fighter,” Daly told us. He added, “He’s willing to go in there with the tools to compete with them, and I think that’s one of the reasons the Christian community sees a champion in him on the issues we care about because he’s not afraid to talk about it. He goes right to it. Is he a perfect person? No.”
But, he said, “I think we’ve grown in the Christian community to recognize policy. Policy is what counts, what gets done.”
Sure, he and other Christian supporters of the president get hit with charges of hypocrisy, but he said it’s a two-way street. “It’s interesting that the Democrats all of a sudden have a standard of perfection for a Republican candidate when previous Democratic presidents weren’t that perfect either, a la Bill Clinton.”
In 2016, Christians took a gamble on Trump that paid off with several executive actions against abortion, an expansion of pro-life judges, and a focus on supporting Christian religions overseas.
Daly, whose daily radio show and social media reach more than 7 million people, said many were surprised that Trump made good on his promises considering that he doesn’t come off as a religious guy. Even he has been surprised by some of the moves Trump has made.
For example, the president has put several Christians in top jobs. “Sometimes, we walk in, and they say, ‘Can we start this meeting with a prayer?’ I didn’t experience that in the George W. Bush administration. I didn’t experience it in the Obama administration,” he said.
Trump’s support for Christian causes has made it easier for many to talk openly about God and their religion, and that’s helped on several fronts, such as the group’s “See Life” series of events to promote abortion alternatives.
Focus on the Family is having another virtual See Life event Sept. 26, and it will include popular musical artists and sports and political figures.
Daly, who attended Trump’s GOP nomination acceptance speech at the White House, said he’s worried about a Joe Biden administration. The former vice president’s flip-flop on supporting the so-called Hyde Amendment against public funding for abortion, he said, was a wake-up call to Christians that he can’t be trusted.
“That’s the problem. You don’t do these things by sample groups. You don’t test something when it comes to moral conviction, and that’s what I think he’s missing personally. Those things matter if you believe a human being is a valuable person, somebody that needs to be defended and saved. And when you flip-flop on those things like that, certainly, our community won’t believe him,” he said.
Now, as polls show that Protestants, Catholics, and other Christians plan to vote for Trump over Biden, Daly said there’s hope that the president will do even more to help.
“We think an additional term would be a lot to move our items much further in a positive direction,” he said.
