Evangelicals are 'betraying their humanity' by supporting Trump: conservative

Former President Donald Trump's support among Christians is by no means universal in the United States, where he has plenty of opponents who identify as Catholic or Mainline Protestant. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and the Rev. Al Sharpton are Protestant ministers and scathing Trump critics; President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) are practicing Catholics who have nothing good to say about the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner.

Yet Trump remains popular among a particular group within Christianity: far-right white evangelicals. If he wins the Republican presidential nomination next year, he will do it with a lot of help from that demographic.

In an essay published by The Atlantic, Never Trump conservative Peter Wehner laments the fact that Trump continues to enjoy so much white evangelical support despite an abundance of "rhetoric" that is "clearly fascistic."

Wehner observes, "He demanded that the parent company of MSNBC and NBC be investigated for 'treason' over what he described as 'one-sided and vicious coverage'…. 'We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country — that lie and steal and cheat on elections,' Trump said toward the end of his speech in Claremont, New Hampshire. 'They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.'"

But despite such rhetoric, Wehner stresses, Trump's white evangelicals supporters remain loyal to him.

"Trump's support among white evangelicals is still extremely high: 81 percent hold a favorable view of him, according to a poll taken in June — after Trump was indicted for a second time," the Never Trumper observes.

"The evangelical movement in America has been reshaped by the sensibilities of Trump and MAGA World…. It is a rather remarkable indictment of those who claim to be followers of Jesus that they would continue to show fealty to a man whose cruel ethic has always been antithetical to Jesus' and becomes more so every day…. Far too many Christians in America are not only betraying their humanity; they are betraying the Lord they claim to love and serve."

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Peter Wehner's full essay for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).