Rather than call out Trump’s bonkers response to Christianity Today after it recommended his removal, Fox News hosts Sandra Smith and Chris Wallace suggested Trump was behaving like a savvy politician.
In case you missed it, Mark Galli, editor in chief of Christianity Today, wrote an op-ed called, Trump Should Be Removed from Office. It cited Trump’s behavior in the Ukraine scandal as “a violation of the Constitution” and “profoundly immoral.” The magazine, which was founded by Billy Graham, is clearly no Democratic or progressive outlet. The editorial included this: “The Democrats have had it out for [Trump] from day one, and therefore nearly everything they do is under a cloud of partisan suspicion. … And, no, Mr. Trump did not have a serious opportunity to offer his side of the story in the House hearings on impeachment.”
So that made comments such as these even more significant:
[T]his president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
…
That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve.
Regardless of your religious beliefs, the entire editorial is worth reading.
Like clockwork, Trump responded with a Twitter rant that proved Galli's point:
A far left magazine, or very “progressive,” as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
....have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
Naturally, Trump TV did its best to clean up on Aisle Evangelicals. On today’s America’s Newsroom, anchor Sandra Smith discussed the matter with Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. Wallace has been attacked by Trump for his skepticism of Dear Leader, but he did his best to recast Trump’s outburst as reasonable and acceptable.
First, anchor Sandra Smith showed a graphic from Fox News’ recent poll showing 67% of evangelical Christians approve of Trump. She didn’t mention that his support has dropped from the 81% that backed him over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Wallace’s comment on the situation was, “It’s all about the math.” He claimed that 25% of American voters identify as Christian evangelicals, a “very big voting block.” Wallace did note that Trump got 80% of the evangelical vote in 2016 (without noting the drop in support) before adding, “So this is a very important part of his electoral base.”
But Wallace moved right past considering any of the reasons why the magazine called on Christians to abandon Trump in order to suggest Trump’s attack was reasonable. “You can argue about Christianity Today magazine and where it stands on the political spectrum but anything that challenges his hold – and I’m not sure whether this will or not – but, you know, anything that even raises the issue about whether Christian evangelicals should support Donald Trump is obviously very important to him, politically, so they’re gonna fight back and push back hard on this.”
Smith did her part by suggesting that Trump had correctly characterized Christianity Today as some far-left rag when she highlighted Fox’s poll finding that only 31% of white evangelicals thought Trump should be impeached. “It is far less, obviously than the general response [54%] of the population,” she said. She, too, avoided commenting on the substance of Galli's allegations.
Watch Fox pretend Trump is not unhinged and unfit for office below, from the December 20, 2019 America’s Newsroom.
Unfortunately, my area is strongly Baptist. Since my church is people 95% fleeing other denominations I get an earful on Baptists (and Catholics). Baptist churches (predominately white ones anyway) in my area tend to fit the mold of the national evangelical politics we see in the news. The last lady to join my Bible study class escaped a Baptist church who poured on the hate for transgender people. She has a transgender relative in the military and was deeply offended and upset.
Regarding Trump over the holidays. Trump is mentally ill. I’m not saying that just because I’m a partisan who can’t stand his politics. I’m not saying it as a joke or merely an insult. He’s obviously a clinical narcissist. He’s not obsessed watching the news merely because he’s a political junkie. He’s watching Fox News mostly to watch himself.
Being pr^sident is the worst job clinical narcissist Trump Rex could ever hold. It explodes every aspect of his illness. Add in the humiliation of being impeached with, as you say, lots of time on his hands (is Melania hanging out with boyfriend Hank Siemer? 😏) and it’s a recipe for disaster. He’ll be intolerable whipping up chaos for the attention he craves during the holiday news vacuum.
His aides should be extremely worried about what will happen during the holidays. The president is wont to fill unstructured time with watching Fox and tweeting. Here’s a suggestion for his aides: find a way to jam the phone towers around Mar A-Lago. And put water or sand into the gas tanks of all the vehicles at Mar A-Lago, including the golf carts. Also… have a doctor on the premises 24/7.
I tend to be very wary of Evangelicals as hypocritical religious fanatics, although I do make exception for the Episcopalian/Presbyterian/ Anglican community. The latter are doing a lot to save lives along the Mexican border and most of them really do try to follow Christ’s teachings in a way that does not really accept that old adage for which Communists were so often bitterly – and often unfairly – criticized: “The ends justify the means”. I do not think that that would have been acceptable to Jesus, not even “their Jesus”.
How tough could it be to copy, delete, change one letter, and repost? I guess having to deal with his grossness and petulance all day every day must make his staff loathe him even more we do. They must giggle in corners and absolutely LOVE watching him humiliate himself with his laughable, illiterate hissy fits.
I’m sad to see Chris Wallace who’s been reasonable of late succumb to becoming a Dear Leader tool. Maybe he’s having flashbacks of Shep Smith.
MAGAts – while not the brightest bulbs – need to start realizing nobody is safe from Narcissist-In-Chief’s wrath. The slightest criticism even from ‘sacred’ supporters like veterans, evangelicals and fellow loyal Republicans send our mentally ill pr^sident into an uncontrollable rage.
The ‘Chosen One’ my ass!