Trump's 'casual cruelty' turned this anti-abortion conservative into a Biden supporter

On Thursday, writing for the conservative anti-Trump site The Bulwark, self-described "pro-life" conservative columnist Mona Charen discussed why her beliefs do not allow her to back President Donald Trump.

"I have been pro-life my entire adult life. I haven’t changed. I continue to find the practice abhorrent, and will persist in trying to persuade others. But I’ve noticed a tendency among pro-life conservatives to forgive absolutely everything else if a politician expresses the right views on abortion ... Call it 'abortion washing,'" wrote Charen. "Abortion washing shuts down moral reflection. Rather than do the work of analyzing how one good thing weighs in the balance against other considerations, abortion washing permits the brain to snap shut, the conscience to put its feet up."

"Donald Trump is a daily, even hourly, assault on the very idea of morality, even as he obliterates truth. His influence is like sulphuric acid on our civic bonds. His cruelty is contagious. Remember how he mocked a handicapped reporter in 2016?" wrote Charen. She noted that under Trump, "Casual cruelty has become the fashion for many Republicans. Trump acolytes have adopted the mob-boss style that Trump brought to the Oval Office" — from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) casually threatening Trump's former lawyer,  to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) trying to out a whistleblower during the impeachment trial.

"It isn’t just a matter of style," wrote Charen. "At Donald Trump’s order, thousands of children, including hundreds under the age of four, were forcibly separated from their parents at the border. Pro-lifers are tender-hearted about the most vulnerable members of society. So images like this must stir something. Separating children from their parents is a barbaric act. In the crush of outrages over the past three and a half years, it has gotten swallowed up, but the horror of what was done in our name should never be forgotten."

This stands in stark contrast to Biden, who, Charen argued, restrains and resists the most extreme elements of his party, refusing to defund the police and condemning violence in protests.

"It is the Republican party that has officially become a personality cult, declaring that it will not adopt a platform but will simply follow whatever Trump dictates," concluded Charen. "There is putrefaction where the Republican party’s essence should be, and appointing pro-life judges cannot mask the stench. So this conservative is voting for the Democrats. Will the GOP reform? I hope so. But my priority isn’t trying to heal the Republican party. It’s trying to heal the country."

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