There is appropriately much attention to considerations of the possible damage that Donald Trump’s standard-bearer role will have on the Republican party. However, one post-election result should be the loss of moral credibility by the religious right. Some Republican politicians have distanced themselves from Trump–because of his moral failures–but not the majority of the Christian Right. Most evangelical leaders are enthusiastically supporting Trump despite his very well-known moral failures, thus damaging what they are trying to advance–Christian values and beliefs.
In the nearly four decades since Jerry Falwell Sr. founded the Moral Majority, so-called evangelical Christians have been the Republican Party’s most reliable voting bloc in presidential elections. The leaders of what came to be known as the religious right were household names, like Pat Robertson, James C. Dobson, and Ralph Reed. They have functioned as a dependable arm of the Republican Party.
According to Johnnie Moore, one of Trump’s advisory board members and a publicist for many Christian leaders and groups, the religious right’s machinery is set to turn out evangelical voters for Mr. Trump. According to a recent poll, nearly 80 percent of white evangelical voters plan to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump despite the fact that he has been demonstrated to be a racist, a misogynist, a liar, an unscrupulous business person, and a person who sexually assaults women.
There is a small but significant bright spot. A group of more than 75 evangelical leaders has released a declaration saying that those polls and headlines do not speak for them. The group includes African-American, Asian, Hispanic and white evangelical Christians, and their statement says that the news media and the polls are overlooking non white evangelicals.
Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University and the successor to his father, is one of Trump’s most loyal evangelical supporters–so much so that he has had some pushback on his campus. Students started a petition in an attempt to pressure Falwell into dropping his endorsement for Trump because Falwell’s support suggested that Trump was associated with Liberty University.
Some excerpts from the petition: “We are Liberty students who are disappointed with President Falwell’s endorsement and are tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history. Donald Trump does not represent our values, and we want nothing to do with him…President Falwell eagerly uses his national platform to advocate for Donald Trump…We Liberty students are often told to support Donald Trump because the other leading candidate is a bad option. Perhaps this is true. But the only candidate who is directly associated with Liberty University is Donald Trump.”
Some analysts argue that if Trump wins with the support of the Christian Right, they will have no moral authority left. The question is should they have any moral authority left if Trump loses.