A Christian magazine has given up on President Trump, and he isn’t happy. The day after prominent evangelical magazine Christianity Today published an editorial titled, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office,” its target fumed on Twitter that it was a “far left magazine, or very ‘progressive,’ as some would call it, which has been doing poorly.”
Christianity Today, which “knows nothing” of Trump’s perfect phone call, he argued, would rather support “a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns.”
“No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close,” Trump continued. “You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!”
That should have been CT, of course — not that he had been reading it in the first place.
As if this rant wasn’t enough, Trump continued his tirade several hours later, posting on Friday afternoon: “I guess the magazine, ‘Christianity Today,’ is looking for Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, or those of the socialist/communist bent, to guard their religion. How about Sleepy Joe? The fact is, no President has ever done what I have done for Evangelicals, or religion itself!”
He then shared an article in which Franklin Graham, son of Christianity Today founder Billy Graham, said his father voted for Trump. See? Trump seemed to say. Of course you must support me. Look at how you’ve supported me in the past, and see what I’ve done for you.
Trump’s relationship with evangelicals has been highly discussed since 2016. Eighty-one percent of white, evangelical Christians voted for Trump that year, with just 16% supporting Hillary Clinton. Trump has close ties to Jerry Falwell Jr., president of the evangelical Liberty University, and Franklin Graham himself, who has frequently praised the president’s record in office.
Soon after the Christianity Today editorial was published, Graham was quoted in the New York Times saying, “My father would be embarrassed.”
“It is not going to change anybody’s mind about Trump,” he continued. “There’s a liberal element within the evangelical movement. Christianity Today represents that.”
Christianity Today, by its own admission, has long opted to support a diversity of political opinions among evangelical Christians, providing a basic spiritual framework through which to view the news. But in its editorial published this week, the magazine is playing the long game.
“If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?” Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli asks readers. “Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?”
The editorial argues that Trump’s character makes him unfit for office, necessitating either a Senate removal or an ouster at the polls in 2020. It concludes, “To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence.”
Whether or not the argument is politically sound, Christianity Today has taken a bold stance by questioning the ease with which many evangelical leaders have aligned themselves with Trump and failed to call out his moral deficiencies.
But this battle isn’t really about impeachment, and at the end of the day, it’s not even about Trump.
The Christianity Today editorial comes at a time when a growing number of evangelicals are concerned by the actions of their peers. After Trump quipped that the late Rep. John Dingell was “looking up” from hell, he was quickly condemned by Christian singer Nichole Nordeman and evangelical blogger Erick Erickson.
Paula White, Trump’s spiritual adviser, instead tweeted just hours later, “Tonight we lift up our President, @realDonaldTrump in prayer against all wickedness & demonic schemes against him and his purpose in the name of Jesus.”
What about the wickedness on her side of the aisle?
Evangelicals at Christianity Today and elsewhere are growing tired of their associates praising the president for his policies while actively ignoring his immoral actions. They could separate the politics from the man. Instead — and this is the better option if you want White House invites — they praise both.
For Christianity Today, time’s up on this two-faced submissiveness. The magazine’s message seems to echo the thoughts of many readers. There might have been a time to maintain both support for Trump the president and condemnation for Trump the man. But the hypocrisy of prominent evangelical leaders destroyed that opportunity for nuance long ago.
