Offensive evangelical reactions to Trump verdict raise stir on social media
Offensive evangelical reactions to Trump verdict raise stir on social media
One widely circulated meme compared Trump with Jesus
If there’s any indication that MAGA-aligned evangelical leaders are about to abandon Donald Trump over his 34 felony convictions related to his sexual encounter with a porn star, it certainly isn’t visible. In social-media posts and other writings in the two days since the New York City jury made its historic findings, religious leaders known for supporting Trump have reiterated their backing for the ex-president in no uncertain terms.
One of the most prominent such figures, author and radio host Eric Metaxas, even resorted to sharing a blasphemous meme that compared Donald Trump with Jesus in order to make his point. Other grossly offensive comments came from Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Most of the pro-Trump evangelical reaction was less dramatic, however, as leader after leader decried the verdict as a sad day for America or repeated Trump talking points such as Trump’s prosecution deriving from weaponization of the justice system.
One of them, megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll, responded shortly after the verdict with a call for Jesus to intervene before election day: “Lord Jesus we would humbly request that you return before November 5 🙏,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
But parts of X and its main rival, Meta-owned Threads, were abuzz today about a meme that had been reposted by Metaxas in an Instagram “story.” Too offensive to feature here, the meme featured a picture of Trump next to a picture of Jesus on the cross, with a large caption above and below the pictures: “If you’re not sure you can vote for a convicted criminal, Remember, you worship one.”
Because of the story format Metaxas used, the meme disappeared from view after 24 hours. Metaxas’s sharing of the meme was last visible this morning (Saturday).
The meme apparently originated with Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, who was removed from the Catholic priesthood in late 2022 for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop.” He continues to maintain a large social-media presence.
Pavone posted the meme on X Friday morning. By today, it had received more than 250,000 views and been retweeted over 1,000 times. It had received over 500 comments, many of them critical.
Pavone had said on his tweet that the meme’s point was “not to compare Trump to Christ, but to point out that they were both convicted falsely and unjustly.” There was no disclaimer on Metaxas’s reuse of the meme.
Among the many critics of the meme today on social media was Young-Sam Won, director of ministry formation at Dallas Theological Seminary. He wrote on Threads:
Can't soft play it, can't nuance it — there is blatant heresy & idolatry on full display with the various conflations of Trmp's conviction and Jesus' death.” “There is no ‘perspective’ from which such displays are not sinful or idolatrous. 💔1
A lengthy statement that Mohler wrote for the evangelical news site World also was drawing attention. Although Mohler was critical of Trump’s conduct and said evangelicals are “wanting the whole sordid picture to just fade away,” he seemed to justify support for Trump by calling President Biden “a half-lucid geriatric who is now little more than a tool of the radical left.”
But it was this comment of Mohler’s that was stirring the social-media pot:
Say what you will about Donald Trump and his sex scandals, he doesn’t confuse male and female.
In other words, showing respect to trans people is somehow worse than what Trump provably has done, including promiscuity, sexual abuse and bragging about grabbing women by the genitals.
David French, a New York Times columnist and theological evangelical2, countered on Threads:
Actual words from seminary president Al Mohler. Utterly appalling.
One of those sex scandals is a jury finding of sex abuse, after which Trump defamed the victim of his own abuse. This is pitiful. Are there no standards left? Is there any conduct too gross?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Trump has influenced the church more than the church has influenced Trump. Just ask Al Mohler.
Other reaction
Among the other comments made by pro-Trump evangelicals on or since Thursday:
Franklin Graham (president of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) on X: “What we saw today has never happened before, and I think for the majority of Americans, it raises questions about whether our legal system can be trusted. Pray for our nation, for God‘s guiding hand that this republic will be one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.”
Jack Hibbs, pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, quoted in the evangelical publication Harbinger’s Daily: “We already know that this trial has been anything but constitutional or normal. If you remove Trump from the process of how this courtroom has performed, it is a harbinger for you and I to know that getting a fair trial is something that has died out with our Constitution.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, on X: “Our Republic only thrives when justice is blind, it dies when justice is blinded by politics and power. This is a sad day for our Republic.”
Paula White, evangelist and spiritual advisor to Trump, on X: “Today is a sad day for all Americans as we watched first hand the judicial system weaponized to go after President Trump for political gain. We the people will stand up against this in November! May God bless you, my long time friend, President Trump, and may God bless all of us who stand for righteousness! I stand with President Trump!”
Misspelling of Trump’s name is in the original.
French no longer describes himself as an evangelical because of the term’s association with Trumpism.