One of the more grotesque features of Donald Trump's rise to the highest office in the land has been the devout support he's received from Evangelical leaders. The same folks who spent decades talking up family values have pledged absolute fealty to a thrice-betrothed heathen who relentlessly cheated on all his wives and reportedly played an abridged role in raising his own children. The folks who talk about walking in Jesus's footsteps have backed a man who demonizes the stranger—immigrants and refugees—and more aptly represents the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth) than any principles of the Savior. It's enough to make you think the most important part of White Evangelical Christian is white.

Thursday, however, saw a bit of accountability in these circles for a man who often demonstrated outright disdain for believers during the campaign. The Evangelical magazine founded by the Reverend Billy Graham, Christianity Today, called for the president to be removed from office on the basis his Most Excellent Ukrainian Adventure is "not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral." But beyond that, Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli went in on Trump's relentless immoral behavior in office outside of his attempts to ensure the 2020 election is neither free nor fair.

The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused...

Christianity Today was founded by the Rev. Billy Graham. Keystone Getty Images

The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see. This damages the institution of the presidency, damages the reputation of our country, and damages both the spirit and the future of our people. None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character...That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.

Galli acknowledged why white Evangelicals continue to back the president: his appointment of right-wing judges and the state of the economy. (Like every American president, Trump is assigned credit for the nation's current economic health—good or bad—without causal evidence. Which Trump policies are responsible for the strong economy? Please be specific.) He also cites Trump's "defense of religious liberty," which does not extend to, say, Islam. They're talking about the wedding cakes. Still, his appeal to the president's steadfast Evangelical supporters is intriguing.

Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?

Good question, Mark. I'm gonna go with "no." Trump's audacious hypocrisy and blatant immorality merely bring all this into focus, but the Christian Right's priorities have for years veered away from the stuff Jesus actually talked about towards opposing abortion and LGBT rights and immigration and a decent social safety net. The argument this is the side Jesus Christ would join if he showed up today is not particularly strong. Still, it's good to draw the line somewhere. The where appears to be a lawless heathen who ridicules a widow in front of thousands of people to get retribution for the shame he cannot stand to feel.

(It should be noted that many of Trump's other prominent Evangelicals are sticking by him. That includes Billy Graham's failson, Franklin. It also includes Jerry Falwell, Jr., another megachurch scion who endorsed Trump after the president's former fixer, Michael Cohen, was kind enough to clear up some personal issues for the Falwell family.)

Trump has retained the steadfast support of Jerry Falwell, Jr. Alex Wong Getty Images

Needless to say, Trump reacted to the Christianity Today development with beauty and with grace on the Tweet Machine.

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. 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!

In fairness, any kind of Evangelical defection would be curtains for Trump's reelection prospects no matter how many foreign governments he convinces to attack the election. His freakout has a logic to it. But by now, it should be clear that anyone who questions the president is a member of the radical left who wants to take away your religion and your guns. That even goes for Evangelical Christian magazines! If you don't believe in Donald Trump, you don't believe in God. Just ask Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who during the House impeachment debate compared the president's treatment unfavorably to what Jesus got from Pontius Pilate. Very normal stuff here! Very healthy political party. It was nice of Trump to make his argument to Evangelicals so explicit, however: it doesn't matter how crooked and dishonest I am, the Democrats will take your guns!

Also: "ET"? The brain is doing swell. Merry Christmas.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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