
On Thursday night, the evangelical standard-bearer Christianity Today, which was founded by the late Reverend Billy Graham, published a stunning editorial calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office.
Outgoing CT editor in chief Mark Galli called Trump “a near-perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused” in the editorial, which drew so many clicks that the website crashed for a few minutes.
“Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election — that is a matter of prudential judgment,” Galli wrote. “That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”
The editorial drew an enormous amount of attention, not the least of which came from its newly impeached subject, who called CT a “far left magazine” and referred to it 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
Franklin Graham, son of Billy, who founded Christianity Today, has become one of Trump’s staunchest evangelical supporters, and he expressed his displeasure to the New York Times. “My father would be embarrassed,” he said. “It is not going to change anybody’s mind about Trump. There’s a liberal element within the evangelical movement. Christianity Today represents that.”
Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, who sits on CT‘s board, expressed surprise to the NYT. “Christianity Today is very apolitical,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “We don’t do politics, we don’t even bring up politics in a board meeting. I don’t think it should affect anything.”
But Lisa Sharon Harper told the NYT that she saw the editorial as a good step forward. “The heart of white evangelicalism is realizing that its pulse is weak, and that there is sickness in the faith. The fact that it took them so long is something they must learn from,” she said. “But I’m glad they spoke out.”
Other leaders responded over Twitter.
Katelyn Beaty, author and editor
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author and speaker
Grateful for this from @markgalli @ @CTmagazine. https://t.co/33ZPnpgQbH
— Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (@wilsonhartgrove) December 19, 2019
Jerry Falwell, Jr. President of Liberty University
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) December 20, 2019
Chris Gehrz, history professor at Bethel University
I'm astonished, but gratified, to see this from @CTmagazine: "…it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence." https://t.co/zRdKjNEvR0
— Chris Gehrz (@cgehrz) December 19, 2019
Jonathan Merritt, author
Leading evangelical magazine @CTmagazine has more character than most of it’s readers, says @realDonaldTrump should be removed from office – https://t.co/kMDyOkXUXD
— Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) December 19, 2019
Shane Claiborne, writer and activist.
This is massive. @CTmagazine, the flagship publication for Trump's base (white evangelicals) has called for him to be removed from office. And it appears that the buzz is so big that it has crashed their website.https://t.co/202UXaJzXO
— Shane Claiborne (@ShaneClaiborne) December 19, 2019
Dr. William Barber, pastor and activist
Christianity Today calls for impeachment, but they don’t critique the distorted moral narrative & immoral policy agenda that created Trump. https://t.co/nUzdk1WbMU
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) December 20, 2019
Sarah Jones, New York Magazine writer
This matters, but white evangelicals are still going to back Trump next year https://t.co/ogRhancjbz
— Sarah “Attack and Dethrone God” Jones (@onesarahjones) December 19, 2019