I can sense the damage that the Trump era has done to the credibility of Church in America just by my own reaction to things.
I’ve been a believer for more than three decades. Bible College Grad. Used the Shepherd’s Guide anytime I needed to hire help.
And I’M disgusted.
Yesterday, I saw an ad for a Christian Academy for kids. A few years ago, I would have been drawn to look into it. But now when I see it, I can’t get the image of the Trump Evangelical, the folks who are sadly especially common among my white evangelical brethren, out of my mind.
When I hear people who are prominent in ministry talk about societal issues or even the Gospel, I can’t help wondering if they’re among the many who tolerated and even celebrated the evil of the last four years. I ask myself “should I bother listening to them?”
Here’s where I’m going with this. If I’m disgusted with the very term “Evangelical” at the moment - AND I AM ONE OF THEM - what does the world think? What do people who don’t know that Jesus Christ is Lord think? What about people who don’t believe that the Bible is God’s Word?
When you get to the point when you’re struggling to fight off having an instant negative perception of a group THAT YOU YOURSELF ARE A MEMBER OF, that’s when you get scared wondering what others might be thinking of your group.
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Here is a list of the members of the US House of Representatives who voted against certifying state election results on January 6th who won their seats in 2020 by the smallest margins (and who may be most vulnerable in 2022): nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Mike Garcia (CA-25, won by 0.10 points)
Burgess Owens (UT-04, won by 1.00 points)
Beth Van Duyne (TX-24, won by 1.30 points)
Jim Hagedorn (MN-01, won by 3.10 points)
Carlos Gimenez (FL-26, won by 3.40 points)
Stephanie Bice (OK-05, won by 4.10 points)
David Schweikert (AZ-06, won by 4.30 points)
Bob Good (VA-05, won by 5.10 points)
Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02, won by 5.80 points)
Lauren Boebert (CO-03, won by 6.20 points)
Nichole Malliotakis (NY-11, won by 6.30 points)
Richard Hudson (NY-08, won by 6.60 points)
There are a bunch of states where Trump did worse than Republicans usually do in Presidential elections. Even though he ultimately won the state.
In Alaska, Trump did worse than any GOP Presidential candidate since Bush in 1992.
1996 - Dole won by 17.53 points
2000 - Bush won by 30.95
2004 - Bush won by 25.55
2008 - McCain won by 21.54
2012 - Romney won by 13.99
2016 - Trump won by 14.73
2020 - Trump won by 10.06
Trump’s false claims that he won the election that he lost were centered on six states - the five states which Biden flipped (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) along with Nevada.
Let’s look deeper at the elections in these six states.
Trump won Arizona in 2016 by 3.5 points, which was the slimmest margin that any Republican won the state by since 1996 (when Bill Clinton won the state).
Trump lost Arizona by 0.31 points in 2020.
When Trump came to office in 2017, Arizona had two Republican US Senators. Today, AZ has two Democratic US Senators.
In 2017, AZ was represented in the House of Representatives by 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats. Now it has 5 Democrats and 4 Republicans.
States where the GOP lost seats in 2018 and gained some or all of them back in 2020:
California (lost 7 in 2018, got back 3 in 2020)
Florida (lost 2, got back 2)
Iowa (lost 2, got back 2)
New Jersey (lost 4, got back 1)
New Mexico (lost 1, got back 1)
While Trump lost the election in November, the fact that he choose to lie, try to overturn a popular election and ultimately incite a violent mob instead of conceding, he lost a lot more since then:
- He's suffered the further humiliation of losing 61 out of 62 lawsuits.
- He was humiliated by having the Supreme Court which is comprised of three Justices that he himself nominated rejecting his false claims twice in a single week.
- His already low approval rating according to Gallup has fallen even lower. He was at 46% on Election Day. 39% now.
- He's lost many of his most loyal allies. Mike Pence. Mitch McConnell. Lindsey Graham. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. The National Association of Manufacturers.
- He's lost business. The PGA has pulled the plug on Bedminster. His brand is more toxic than ever.