Christianity Today magazine last week created a public stir with an
op-ed
calling for the impeachment of President Trump, surprising people who had considered evangelicals a monolithic voting bloc. The editorial was more of an anomaly than an indication of a bigger
trend, since most evangelicals support Trump and oppose impeachment.
Christianity Today was founded in 1956 by preacher Billy Graham. It has a print circulation of 80,000
readers, while its website claims its various media properties reach more than 5 million "Christian leaders."
Current EIC Mark Galli, who retires from the magazine next week, ended his tenure with
a bang. He described Trump as immoral for pushing Ukraine to investigate a
political opponent in exchange for foreign aid.
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“We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear, in a way the Mueller investigation did not, that President Trump has
abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath," Galli writes. "The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to
see.”
It's an overstatement to assert than everyone sees the president's moral deficiencies and interprets facts about his conversations with Ukraine's president the same way. The
impeachment vote in the House of Representatives was split along party lines, again demonstrating a significant divide among lawmakers presented with the same facts.
Ninety-nine percent of
Republican white evangelical Protestants oppose the
impeachment and removal of Trump from office, according to a recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization. That percentage is higher than the
94% of overall Republicans who oppose the impeachment and removal of Trump.
The president and other evangelical leaders have attacked Galli for the editorial, questioning whether his opinion
was rooted in Christian principles. The dispute over the editorial is likely to remain internecine among evangelicals, with little effect on Trump support.