Columnist knocks Jenna Ellis for saying she's a Christian — while failing to act like one

When former Donald Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty in a Fulton County, Georgia courtroom, she made sure to tearfully point out that she is, "An attorney who is also a Christian."

But writing for the Charlotte Observer, columnist Issac Bailey couldn't help but notice that Ellis' faith didn't stop her from misbehaving in the past.

"Those are the words of Jenna Ellis, a woman who helped former President Donald Trump perpetrate a lie about the 2020 election that has threatened our democracy like little else in modern times," wrote Bailey. "Which begs the question: Does declaring oneself Christian mean much of anything these days? Has it ever?"

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The question has been asked before — notedly when Trump suddenly began to play up his beliefs when he first ran for election.

In a 2016 supercut, MSNBC showed some of the greatest hits of Trump talking about his religion, such as the moment he didn't know II Corinthians was pronounced "Second Corinthians" and not "Two Corinthians."

Another was Christian Broadcast News hosts asking Trump what his favorite part of the Bible is. He didn't know and simply said, "all of it," before changing the subject to discuss what an incredible movie it is. Then he came up with a fake verse that Jesus would have repudiated, the Washington Times reported at the time.

However, he also said that the Bible was his "second favorite book," after his own books of course. He swore, "I'm a believer, big league, in God."

The Pew Research Center reported that in 2020, Trump increased his support among white evangelical Protestants to 84 percent after getting 77 percent in 2016.

So, Ellis' practice may be more indicative of the broad range of the religion after all.

Bailey spoke about his own life growing up in the church before even knowing what "church" was about. But even he doesn't know what it means if someone says they are a Christian these days, he said.

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"It’s not a superficial question, for in this country, and especially in the South, declaring yourself Christian is essentially a prerequisite for holding public office, with only a sprinkling of exceptions, despite the principle of a separation between church and state," he explained. "Ask an atheist, Muslim or Jew if you doubt me."

Ellis said that not only was she a Trump attorney who, "helped perpetrate a fraud on the American public, but that she was a Christian," Bailey cited, as if confused by the concept. She also did it while pleading guilty to one of the biggest moments in political history. He attributed this to the faith of Christianity leaving out the Christ.

"It’s about fitting in, about a shortcut to respectability," he said. "There’s no need to be ethical, to actually love fellow human beings as Christ called us to, to sacrifice for the greater good the way he sacrificed for us. All that’s required is saying the magic words. I’m a Christian. There’s no need to check your biases about people who seem foreign or who don’t fit neatly into a supposed gender or sex binary, no need to check the facts or avoid following obviously-arrogantly immoral men like Trump. Just say 'I’m a Christian,' and your work is done."

Read his full column at The Charlotte Observer.