Michael Brown's Pretend Virtues On Trump

The WorldNetDaily columnist spent the first part of the presidential campaign setting up his eventual vote for Donald Trump despite his efforts to de-emphasize abortion in the Republican platform.

Michael Brown geared up for the 2024 presidential campaign with a Feb. 12 column that served up his view of the political situation — while, of course, being much more harsh on President Biden than he was on Donald Trump:

Have you ever seen an election year like 2024? We’re not just talking about the normal intensity of election fever, with the constant bombardment of political ads, dueling polls and round-the-clock cable news coverage. No, this year is quite different.

On the one hand, a second faceoff between Joe Biden and Donald Trump seems inevitable.

On the other hand, the future of both of these aging leaders is fraught with uncertainty. Will President Biden be able to campaign and participate in debates, let alone lead for four more years? (Of course, many would say he is absolutely not fit to lead right now.)

The recent DOJ special counsel report on Biden, with conclusions that sounded more like a satire piece from the Onion or Babylon Bee, was incredibly damaging, while the damage-control press conference that followed had the precise opposite effect. (Think of it as an all-out train wreck.)

Then there are the ever-present concerns of the charges against Hunter Biden, which could seriously implicate Biden as well.

As for replacing Biden at the last minute, that, too, creates more uncertainty. Would it be the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who is more radically left than Biden? Will Michelle Obama save the day? Who knows?

When it comes to former President Trump, he is faced with different states seeking to remove him from their primary ballots, leading to court cases that have made their way to the Supreme Court.

He also faces a mountain of charges and indictments, which means many more court cases and endless expenditures of time and money. Will he be disqualified legally from running again? Or will a series of “guilty” verdicts cost him millions of needed voters?

Plus, he is no spring chicken himself.

Added to all this is the fact that the passions for and against Trump are off the charts, with some pundits warning, “If Trump wins the election there will be a civil war!” while other pundits warn, “If Trump loses the election there will be a civil war!” One influential Christian leader even opined that it might be worth a civil war to get Trump back in office.

Rather than offer the same level of judgment against Trump than he did against Biden, Brown punted and took the religious route:

Let us, then, step above the madness of the hour and the political divisiveness – while still doing our part in the election process – and let us talk about Jesus more than we talk about candidates.

It will do our own souls well. And we might just help others too.

Brown followed up with a Feb. 21 column warning of pastors getting too invested in political candidates:

As leaders in the Body of Christ, nothing is more important than your personal testimony – your hard-earned reputation for soundness in life, faith and practice. You are a representative of Jesus in a formal and public way, with believers looking to you for guidance and unbelievers looking at you, scrutinizing you for godliness.

That’s why it is so important that we don’t hitch our wagons to political leaders lest their misbehavior tarnishes our reputations. And even if they don’t misbehave – if they don’t lie or sell out or act in some duplicitous way – if we become more associated with them then we are with the Gospel, we dilute, if not destroy, our witness.

Brown complained that his initial endorsement of Ted Cruz in 2016 “compromised my ability to be an uncompromised, unbiased voice, which is an essential part of my own ministry calling.” He then pretended he wasn’t as vocal of a Trump supporter as he actually was:

In the months that followed, I did make clear that I would be voting for Trump, explaining why I preferred his policies to those of Hillary Clinton. I also challenged Christian voters on the issues themselves, asking how they could cast a vote for someone who advocated for the legal slaughter of the unborn.

But like a broken record (and to the perpetual consternation of Trump supporters), I added caveats regarding his behavior, making clear that I regretted some of his statements and actions. I also did my best to shout to the world at the top of my lungs: “JESUS IS MY SAVIOR AND LORD, TO WHOM I OWE EVERYTHING AND FOR WHOM I LIVE AND WILL DIE.” Then, in very small print (or softly and quietly when speaking), “And Trump gets my vote for president.” There could be no confusing the two issues. We have one Savior and Lord who is infinitely higher than us. We have an endless stream of political leaders, all of whom are deeply flawed human beings, like the rest of us, and none of whom is worthy of our adoration.They’re just people – some better people than others, and some more gifted than others – and nothing more.

We cannot hitch our wagons to them. We cannot put our hopes in them. We cannot look to them to save our nation. And we dare not tie our personal testimonies to them.

But Brown did, in fact, hitch his wagon to Trump — so much so that he wrote two books with the explicit purpose of convincing his fellow evangelicals to overlook Trump’s amorality and support him because he delivered on right-wing agenda items. Still, he hypocritically repeated his line of the day:

But, to repeat, as Christian leaders we dare not hitch our reputations or our ministries or our churches or our denominations or our organizations to a political candidate. The moment we do, we are guilty of mixing politics with faith, joining the perfect to the imperfect, also risking the tarnishing of our own reputations in the process.

That’s because every time that candidate speaks or acts, people will associate us with him (or her). If she says something stupid, we now have to answer for it. If he is vulgar or nasty or caught in a lie, that now reflects on us. And this means that the name of Jesus gets tarnished and our witness to the world becomes compromised.

Nothing in this world – and I mean nothing, from political power to boatloads of money to social media influence – is worth that. Nothing.

So, do not kiss the ring. Do not get seduced by the media spotlight. And do not let anything defile or degrade or diminish you.

Brown won’t admit that this is what has happened to him, despite later walkbacks after the Capitol riot and when Trump didn’t toe the right-wing line on abortion.

Pretending he’s not a Trumper

Brown began his March 6 column by insisting, “This article is not intended to influence how you vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5, nor is it intended to influence how you view former President Donald Trump. Instead, it is to help you keep a godly, faith-filled and sane perspective in the months leading up to Election Day, since things could get pretty crazy before then.” He then further insisted, “That’s why neither Donald Trump nor the elections are going to be my primary focus in the months ahead.”

Brown is being dishonest, of course; he has been a longtime Trump supporter, even writing two books with the explicit purpose of convincing his fellow evangelicals to overlook Trump’s amorality and support him because he delivered on right-wing agenda items. Despite some wavering, he still wanted to see Trump become president again, and he is very much interested in finding a way to make that happen.

One way Brown did that is by conceding his flaws early so he didn’t have to discuss them closer to election time. Thus, he spent his April 12 column admitting logical reasons why Trump is “so hated”:

The first and most obvious reason is that Trump is reaping what he has sown. He has sown hatred and he is reaping hatred. He has been nasty and cruel and crude and vicious, and his detractors are responding in kind, giving him some of his own medicine.

This should occasion no surprise, even to his most dedicated followers. He punches his opponents in the face, metaphorically speaking, and they punch back. (Would a more fitting metaphor be that he hits below the belt?)

There is no fair play. The gloves are off.

Second, Trump was hardly seen as a model of Christian virtue and humility in his pre-presidential days. Instead, he was known as a proud womanizer, a man who made money on strip-club casinos, not to mention being thrice-married himself. “Narcissist” was his middle name.

That’s why his critics have wondered aloud at the widespread support Trump has received from Christian conservatives, in particular evangelicals.

Weren’t these the same people who would not vote for Bill Clinton because of his alleged sexual dalliances? Weren’t these the same people who once billed themselves “the Moral Majority”? Weren’t these the “Values Voters,” the ones who shouted, “Character counts”?

How could they then vote for Trump, let alone support him so passionately?

Those of us who did vote for him would have a ready response: To our knowledge, his immoral days were in his past. But either way, we are in an existential fight for our nation’s survival, and without question, Trump was and is a better choice than Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton.

To say this, though, is to miss the point of this article, which has to do with why Trump is so hated. Instead those of us who support(ed) him need to put ourselves in the shoes of our ideological opponents, asking this question: If Donald Trump were a far-left Democrat, running against a God-fearing, highly moral Republican, how would we feel about Trump?

Put another way, if Trump were the enemy rather than the ally, would we excuse the sordid nature of his past and overlook the unsavory aspects of his character today? Wouldn’t we say, “We do not want a man like that in the White House?”

Do give this some thought. The answer should be self-evident.

Brown then tried to blame the media:

Third, Trump is deeply hated because his opponents believe the very worst things about him, in particular as peddled by major media outlets: that he is not just a bad person. He is a danger. A real danger. The devil has nothing on him.

If elected, they say, he will strike down the rule of democracy. He will empower the most foul, vicious and violent elements of society. He will remove the rule of law. He will destroy the world!

During his presidency, a childhood friend of mine unfriended me on Facebook simply because I voted for Trump, and, while never excusing his foul behavior, I defended him when he was falsely accused.

Never mind that Brown himself is guilty of believing the very worst things about President Biden, as peddled by right-wing media outlets (like, um, WND); take, for instance, his performative outrage over Biden marking a Transgender Day of Visibility on the same day as Easter while censoring the fact that the day has always been on March 31 while Easter bounces around from year to year.

Brown then tried to cut closer to his fellow evangelicals’ affinity for Trump:

Fifth, Trump has identified publicly with Christian conservatives, and to the extent we and our values are hated, he is hated. If you are pro-abortion, he is the enemy. If you sympathize with transitioning children, he is the enemy. If you don’t like the Bible, which Trump freely waves and endorses, he is the enemy.

Whether or not Trump is truly Christian or even reads the Bible is not the issue. It is that he has surrounded himself with Christian conservatives, some of whom are quite bold about their faith, and therefore, as they are hated, so also is he hated. We, on our part, are perceived as power-hungry hypocrites, willing to go to any lengths to have a seat at the table.

Trump, then, is the chief hypocrite, a fitting leader for these misguided, theocracy-minded leaders.

That is the perception of those on the “other side.”

That’s why it is so important that, if we do choose to vote for Trump, as I have said time and again, we make that the secondary matter, lest we tarnish the name of the Savior we love.

In other words, to the extent that we preach Trump rather than just vote Trump, we defile our witness.

So, let’s preach Jesus and model our lives after Him. And let’s be sure to vote.

But it’s difficult to make a vote for Trump a “secondary matter” when the vote is all that counts in an election. Notice that Brown refuses to take a stand here by unequivocally stating that Trump’s amorality and hate makes him unsuitable to be president; it was obvious that as the election grew closer, Brown would portray Trump as the lesser of two evils by repeating right-wing hate of Biden as the real enemy of evangelicals. It’s something that Brown will portray as principled, but it’s really just a cynical move to justify supporting Trump because, again, he delivers right-wing goods and Brown ultimately doesn’t care how that actually happens.

Setting up future support

Brown worked further to set up his future support for Trump in his April 3 column:

In April 2016, I wrote an article titled, “Donald Trump is Not Your Protector: A Warning to Conservative Christians.” It began with a strong word of caution: “Donald Trump has presented himself as a protector of conservative Christians and as the best friend Christians will ever have. He has held up his mother’s Bible and pledged to bring Christ back into Christmas. But when the rubber meets the road, he is anything but the defender of conservative Christians and their values.”

It ended with an even stronger caution: “If you’re a Trump supporter, you might say, ‘I know he’s not a Christian and I don’t even think he’s a real conservative, but I’m voting for him because I believe he’s the best man to fix our economy and protect our borders.’ I beg to differ, but I can respect that position. But please don’t look to him to be a defender of conservative Christian values or a protector of religious freedoms. Barring dramatic divine intervention in his life, you will be sadly disappointed.

“Be forewarned.”

This was written, of course, before Trump became the GOP candidate.

Before it became a race between him and Hillary Clinton.

Before he appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, leading to the overturning of Roe in 2022.

Before he issued an executive order overturning the Johnson Amendment.

Before he moved our embassy to Jerusalem.

Before I voted for him in 2016 and then in 2020.

Looking back now, in some ways, I was clearly wrong about Trump. He kept his word on many essential promises, he kept his door open to evangelical leaders, and he stood up for many issues of importance to us. He did not simply use us to get elected and then discard us, as I feared he would.

That’s why, with hope but some trepidation, I voted for him in 2016 and then, with more confidence and less trepidation, in 2020, especially in light of the other presidential choices.

This was one time I was glad to say I was wrong – but only in one sense.

Brown then cheered Trump’s lip service to right-wing Christian narratives — but also complained that he’s not homophobic enough:

And so, on the one hand, he says that, as a rebuke to President Biden’s horrifically timed, Good Friday-Easter Sunday announcement about the “Transgender Day of Visibility,” as president, he will create a “Christian Visibility Day.'”

On the other hand, a gay website reported just five weeks ago that, “Donald Trump gave his approval to a same-sex wedding ceremony taking place at his Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, last Friday.

“The nuptials took place between two men, at least one of whom is active within the Log Cabin Republicans. The organization represents gay supporters of the GOP.”

And it was on Dec. 16, 2022, that Politico posted this report about a gala, Log Cabin Republican (meaning, gay Republican) event at Mar-a-Lago, in which, “the main attraction, obviously, was Trump. He received a standing ovation after delivering an enthusiastic affirmation of gay rights not often heard in the GOP.

“‘We are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard,’ the former president and 2024 candidate said. ‘With the help of many of the people here tonight in recent years, our movement has taken incredible strides, the strides you’ve made here is incredible.’

“Throughout the evening, speakers praised Trump for his embrace of the gay community. They credited him for his initiatives to combat the criminalization of homosexuality, his work pushing for public heath initiatives to combat the HIV epidemic, and for appointing the first openly gay Cabinet member, [Rick] Grenell, as director of national intelligence.”

Need I say more?

Brown concluded with more muddled messaging:

My counsel, then, to all followers of Jesus, especially to pastors and leaders, is this.

You may choose to vote for Trump because of his policies, especially in contrast with the Democratic alternative.

You may appreciate his efforts to stand up for Christian liberties and defend our rights.

But in no way should you look to him to lead the way in bringing about the moral or cultural transformation of our nation, let alone the spiritual transformation. He may point to the Bible as his favorite book, but it remains clear by his actions and words that the contents of that Book are not yet written deeply on his heart, nor does he have an intimate personal relationship with the divine Author.

More importantly, we must learn the painful lessons from the last eight years during which time many of us became better known as supporters of Trump, if not apologists for Trump, than as followers of Jesus. In doing so, we deeply damaged our witness and drove many Americans, especially young Americans, away from Jesus.

Brown didn’t mention his books encouraging evangelicals to be Trump apologists or otherwise accept his own responsibility for elevating embracing Trump to embracing a certain breed of Christianity.

More muddled messaging

Brown’s July 12 column was a return to muddled messaging, criticizing Trump for a Republican platform that de-emphasized abortion:

The new Trump platform: What’s a pro-life voter to do?

There is a new challenge for pro-life voters as we approach the 2024 elections. On the one hand, in my opinion, it is impossible for a truly pro-life voter to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate given the radical, pro-abortion stance of that party. That holds true as well for the positions of President Biden and Vice President Harris, which continue to lurch farther to the left. But now that the RNC has embraced the watered down platform crafted by the Trump team, do we simply acquiesce and vote Republican? Do we refuse to cast our vote and insist on righteous standards? Or is there another way?

For those not familiar with the ongoing debate, since 1984, the GOP has contained language supporting an “amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth.” Its pro-life plank has been extensive and strong.

In contrast, not one of the 20 promises listed in the new party platform mentions abortion, while the paragraph discussing abortion in the new platform simply says, “We proudly stand for families and life. We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process, and that the states are therefore free to pass laws protecting those rights. After 51 years because of us, that power has been given to the state and to a vote of the people. We will oppose late term abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF.”

[…]

During the presidential debate, Trump emphasized clearly that in his mind, abortion was a state issue, not a federal issue, because of which he would not sign into law a federal abortion ban if elected. He also emphasized that this was something the people got to vote on state by state, and that, in his mind, was the right venue for passing laws regarding abortion.

As for his own position, he continued to emphasize his opposition to late-term abortion as well as restating that he believed in the three exceptions of rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Is this simply pragmatism on the former president’s part, knowing how volatile the issue of abortion has become in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe? Is Trump simply hedging his bets, stressing what the vast majority of Americans believe – namely, that late-term abortion is wrong – while also recognizing that pro-abortion voters apparently pushed the 2022 midterms in the direction of the Democrats?

Only Trump and his closest advisers know. (And of course, God knows.) We can only speculate.

But what we do know is that, for the first time in 40 years, the pro-life language of the GOP platform has been greatly softened, meaning that it can hardly be viewed as “the party of life.” To the contrary, it is the party which is less open to abortion.

But rather than offering any serious challenge to Trump for changing the party platform, Brown punted:

My counsel would be that we do not take this new platform lying down but do our best to work for a change until the last minute possible. If, in the end, we cannot bring about change, then we still work with the GOP for the moment while making it clear behind the scenes that the next GOP candidate will have to embrace our pro-life position. Otherwise, he or she will not make it through the primaries.

That’s a battle we cannot fight now, since Trump is clearly the GOP standard bearer. But it’s a battle we must fight in the future.

That being said, there’s a silver lining to all this. As I wrote in “Turn the Tide,” we must work relentlessly on changing hearts as well as changing laws, and now that Trump has made clear that he is not a pro-life champion, we cannot make the mistake of looking to him to do what only the church can do.

So, we vote our conscience one day in November, but we spend 365 days a year being salt and light.

With that mentality, and with God’s help, we can become much more of a pro-life nation.

In short: Brown will not challenge Trump on abortion because Trump is his guy after all, he wrote two books encouraging his fellow evangelicals to vote for Trump despite his longstanding amorality. And if (whining aside) he’s giving Trump a pass for moderating on abortion, he certainly won’t challenge Trump on anything else, and nothing will keep him from voting for the guy. For all of his complaints, that’s been Brown’s plan all along.