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The magazine founded by evangelist icon Billy Graham, Christianity Today, posted an editorial on Thursday in support of Democratic-led efforts to impeach and remove President Trump.
“The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents… it is profoundly immoral,” the magazine wrote.
“To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve,” it added.
The magazine also described Trump as “a near-perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.”
On Friday morning, Trump responded to the magazine with a pair of tweets.
“A far-left magazine, or very ‘progressive,’ as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President,” he tweeted.
“No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!” Trump added, perhaps misidentifying Christianity Today as ET.
….have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
In the Thursday editorial, Christianity Today wrote:
The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.
That said, we do feel it necessary from time to time to make our own opinions on political matters clear—always, as Graham encouraged us, doing so with both conviction and love. We love and pray for our president, as we love and pray for leaders (as well as ordinary citizens) on both sides of the political aisle.
But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The editorial then continued its personal swipes at Trump.
“None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character,” it wrote. “If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?”
Adding, “That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”
Franklin Graham also responded to the outlet:
My Response to Christianity Today:Christianity Today released an editorial stating that President Trump should be…
Posted by Franklin Graham on Thursday, December 19, 2019
