America got dueling news regarding Donald Trump this week. We learned the 2024 presidential candidate is so far ahead in the Republican primary polls that he appears to be a shoo-in for renomination. And at the same time, we learned yet another federal indictment was handed down charging him with criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the 2020 election — which, by the way, he definitively lost.
Six years in to America’s nightmare of Trump as Republican Party favorite, most of us continue to watch in stunned amazement that he is still politically viable.
A national news program recently interviewed a Trump supporter after one of his rallies and asked why this person still supports him. The answer: “He’s the only one who tells us the truth.”
What in the name of everything righteous and holy is wrong with 30% of Americans? To borrow a phrase, Donald Trump wouldn’t know truth if it bit him on the rumpus. Everything about the man is the very opposite of truth. He is a professional liar, con man and crook.
Never in the history of our democracy has such an evil demagogue obtained power. Yes, Donald Trump is evil. That is not too harsh an assessment. He is the only person on the public stage in my lifetime I would consider an anti-Christ. He is against the ways of Christ.
That’s not because he’s a Republican. That’s because he’s a narcissistic, power-hungry abuser of everyone around him.
“What we need to focus on instead is those who are Trump enablers through their silence.”
We’ve spent six years diagnosing why evangelical Christians have taken the bait and followed someone who is the antithesis of their professed faith. We’ve exhausted that inquiry, and nothing productive will come of it right now. What we need to focus on instead is those who are Trump enablers through their silence.
The roughly 30% of Americans who are committed to Trump regardless of what he does and how many indictments he faces are not a big enough bloc to elect him to any public office. They did not elect him alone in 2016, and they cannot elect him alone in 2024.
The power lies with the other folks who said they “held their nose” and voted for him or who failed to oppose him because of their disdain for whatever Democratic candidate was on the ballot. The power lies with pastors and politicians and influencers who have remained silent about the evils this man has done and has announced he will continue to do if re-elected.
Remember the old counseling maxim: When people tell you who they are, believe them.
We are way past believing anyone who says, “Oh, it won’t be as bad as you think.” I remember hearing that in 2016. Those people were wrong then, and they are wrong today.
Giving Trump any more leadership anywhere will be disastrous for democracy and disastrous for our faith. He brings out the very worst of Christian behavior and leads people away from the teachings of Jesus.
Remember when Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas justified his support of Trump by saying he wasn’t voting for Sunday School Teacher in Chief? Apparently he had no problem voting for Antichrist in Chief.
“There is a simple way for America to put the kibosh on Donald Trump’s political career and influence during this primary season.”
There is a simple way for America to put the kibosh on Donald Trump’s political career and influence during this primary season: The so-called “moderates” need to speak up. Pastors need to stop living in fear of their congregants and instead fear the damage done to our faith. Politicians need to stop living in fear of Trump lashing out at them and instead fear the death of the democracy they swore to uphold.
Yes, it is that serious.
We’re back to those famous words penned by Martin Luther King Jr. when he said the greatest barrier to racial justice in America is the white moderate. Those who think they are keeping the peace by being silent. Those who refuse to “take sides.” Those who love to say, “Just give it some more time.”
To all those who disdain Trump but are afraid to say so: How many indictments will it take before you’re willing to speak up? America needs you.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He is the author of the new Fortress Press book Honestly: Telling the Truth about the Bible and Ourselves.
Related articles:
On the indictment of a president | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
Why a potential indictment of Donald Trump will matter so little to most of his Christian supporters | Opinion by Robert P. Jones
The ‘man of lawlessness’ gets indicted in New York | Opinion by David Gushee