During the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump famously said "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
And if he fired that shot in an evangelical church, he could probably get the pastor to help steady his aim.
Despite the titillating details from Stormy Daniels on "60 Minutes" this week and the mounting evidence of his infidelity to third wife, Melania, the GOP's so-called "values voters"—people who loudly condemned Bill Clinton for his infidelity—are standing by President Trump. As one-time Clinton critic Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said regarding Trump's Stormy sexual misbehavior: "We gave him a mulligan."
As a graduate of Oral Roberts University myself, I don't recall exactly which book of the Bible mentions the "mulligan" (Proverbs, maybe? It has a Solomonic sound). But the need for forgiveness is certainly a Biblical principle, and the willingness of Christians to forgive human failings is nothing new. Nor is it a symptom of hypocrisy.
But to receive forgiveness, one must confess the sin first. And President Trump has yet to admit his relationship with Ms. Daniels, much less ask forgiveness for it.
And it appears he doesn't need to. After a short-lived 14-point dip in net approval among social conservatives after the Stormy Daniels story broke, President Trump's support among these voters is back around 80 percent, according to Morning Consult. Evangelicals are so willing to support President Trump, they've abandoned their principles on character and morality in order to make room for him.
Consider these numbers:
In 2011, just 30 percent of evangelical voters believed that an elected official who "committed an immoral act in their personal life" had the ethical character to hold public office. By October 2016—on the eve of their massive turnout on behalf of "p***y-grabbing" Donald Trump, that number was up to 72 percent, according to a survey conducted by PRRI and the Brookings Institution.
Perhaps most astonishing, a recent YouGov poll found only half of Trump voters said Trump cheating on his wife with Stormy Daniels would be immoral, even if it did happen. After everything they've learned about him, 56 percent of Trump supporters believe the phrase "moral leader" describes the president either "very well" or "extremely well."
How did the same Americans who clamored for Bill Clinton to be impeached for lying about his affairs turn into voters who aren't even sure cheating is immoral at all? It's that magic word:
"Clinton."
Evangelicals remember how feminists and liberals who claimed to care deeply about the treatment of women in the workplace rallied around Bill Clinton, despite his behavior with a White House intern. Bring up Stormy Daniels to politically active social conservatives and they're likely to bring up Nina Burleigh, the former Time reporter who said during the Clinton scandal that she would be willing to engage in the same activity as Monica Lewinsky "to thank him for keeping abortion legal."
As conservative Townhall.com columnist and Trump supporter Kurt Schlichter puts it: "I see no reason not to play by [Democrats'] rules…not allowing the other side to gain an advantage by weaponizing morality against us."
"Trump's affairs are a side show," Schlichter tweeted.
Then there's the other Clinton argument Christians use: Hillary.
Evangelical voters felt under siege during the Obama years, from nuns hit with government mandates regarding birth control to Christian business owners forced to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies. Many believed a Hillary Clinton presidency would bring even more government assaults against people of faith.
They note that during a 2015 speech addressing the issue of abortion, for example, candidate Hillary Clinton said "deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."
People of faith were looking for a politician who would champion their religious faith, not change it.And while "an exceptionally profane, likely unfaithful, thrice-married braggart who once publicly supported abortion" (as Mark Hemingway calls him in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine this week) doesn't seem like the obvious candidate, Trump got the job.
As Tony Perkins told Politico.com, the relationship between evangelicals and Trump is "transactional." They give the president their loyalty, and he gives them political support.
"From a policy standpoint, he has delivered more than any other president in my lifetime."
Is the transaction worth it? In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus asks "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Then again, Jesus never voted in a Republican primary.
Michael Graham
CBSN contributor Michael Graham is a conservative columnist for the Boston Herald.
Commentary: Why evangelicals stick with Trump despite Stormy Daniels
By Michael Graham
/ CBS News
During the 2016 presidential race, Donald Trump famously said "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."
And if he fired that shot in an evangelical church, he could probably get the pastor to help steady his aim.
Despite the titillating details from Stormy Daniels on "60 Minutes" this week and the mounting evidence of his infidelity to third wife, Melania, the GOP's so-called "values voters"—people who loudly condemned Bill Clinton for his infidelity—are standing by President Trump. As one-time Clinton critic Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said regarding Trump's Stormy sexual misbehavior: "We gave him a mulligan."
As a graduate of Oral Roberts University myself, I don't recall exactly which book of the Bible mentions the "mulligan" (Proverbs, maybe? It has a Solomonic sound). But the need for forgiveness is certainly a Biblical principle, and the willingness of Christians to forgive human failings is nothing new. Nor is it a symptom of hypocrisy.
But to receive forgiveness, one must confess the sin first. And President Trump has yet to admit his relationship with Ms. Daniels, much less ask forgiveness for it.
And it appears he doesn't need to. After a short-lived 14-point dip in net approval among social conservatives after the Stormy Daniels story broke, President Trump's support among these voters is back around 80 percent, according to Morning Consult. Evangelicals are so willing to support President Trump, they've abandoned their principles on character and morality in order to make room for him.
Consider these numbers:
In 2011, just 30 percent of evangelical voters believed that an elected official who "committed an immoral act in their personal life" had the ethical character to hold public office. By October 2016—on the eve of their massive turnout on behalf of "p***y-grabbing" Donald Trump, that number was up to 72 percent, according to a survey conducted by PRRI and the Brookings Institution.
Perhaps most astonishing, a recent YouGov poll found only half of Trump voters said Trump cheating on his wife with Stormy Daniels would be immoral, even if it did happen. After everything they've learned about him, 56 percent of Trump supporters believe the phrase "moral leader" describes the president either "very well" or "extremely well."
How did the same Americans who clamored for Bill Clinton to be impeached for lying about his affairs turn into voters who aren't even sure cheating is immoral at all? It's that magic word:
"Clinton."
Evangelicals remember how feminists and liberals who claimed to care deeply about the treatment of women in the workplace rallied around Bill Clinton, despite his behavior with a White House intern. Bring up Stormy Daniels to politically active social conservatives and they're likely to bring up Nina Burleigh, the former Time reporter who said during the Clinton scandal that she would be willing to engage in the same activity as Monica Lewinsky "to thank him for keeping abortion legal."
As conservative Townhall.com columnist and Trump supporter Kurt Schlichter puts it: "I see no reason not to play by [Democrats'] rules…not allowing the other side to gain an advantage by weaponizing morality against us."
"Trump's affairs are a side show," Schlichter tweeted.
Then there's the other Clinton argument Christians use: Hillary.
Evangelical voters felt under siege during the Obama years, from nuns hit with government mandates regarding birth control to Christian business owners forced to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies. Many believed a Hillary Clinton presidency would bring even more government assaults against people of faith.
They note that during a 2015 speech addressing the issue of abortion, for example, candidate Hillary Clinton said "deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."
People of faith were looking for a politician who would champion their religious faith, not change it.And while "an exceptionally profane, likely unfaithful, thrice-married braggart who once publicly supported abortion" (as Mark Hemingway calls him in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine this week) doesn't seem like the obvious candidate, Trump got the job.
As Tony Perkins told Politico.com, the relationship between evangelicals and Trump is "transactional." They give the president their loyalty, and he gives them political support.
"From a policy standpoint, he has delivered more than any other president in my lifetime."
Is the transaction worth it? In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus asks "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Then again, Jesus never voted in a Republican primary.
In:- Bill Clinton
- Hillary Clinton
- Donald Trump
- Stormy Daniels
CBSN contributor Michael Graham is a conservative columnist for the Boston Herald.
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