By Robin G. Jordan
The number of women who allege that Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump made unwanted sexual advances toward them has grown to
eleven. Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, claims that the Trump campaign is
accumulating evidence to disapprove their allegations and will release this evidence
at “the appropriate time.” He is parroting Trump himself who has made a similar
claim. At least one news article has asked what do Trump and Pence mean by “the
appropriate time.” The implication is that if strong evidence of Trump’s
innocence exists, now is the time to produce that evidence, not at some future
date.
I am reminded of how Trump strung along the media with the
promise of making a public statement retracting his long-time support of the
Barack Obama birther conspiracy, only to use this promise to keep himself in
the headlines and its eventual fulfillment to showcase a new hotel. He
cynically exploited the media to gain free advertising for the hotel. I cannot
help but suspect that Trump is doing something along those lines with his promise
of evidence that will exonerate him of the alleged sexual abuse.
I can think of very few reasons that Trump would otherwise
delay the release of such evidence. The first reason is that such evidence does
not exist and the Trump campaign needs time to gather a body of plausible information
that may lend credibility to Trump’s protestations of innocence or his allegations
of ulterior motives on the part of the women making the allegations against him.
The second reason is that the Trump campaign is hoping that
if they drag out the matter long enough, it will cease to be a political
liability. Trump has survived a number of firestorms of his own creation during
his 2016 run for the presidency.
The third reason is that Trump’s attorneys are preparing one
or more libel cases against the women and the media and they do not want their
cases subject to public scrutiny before they go to court. In that event “the
appropriate time” would be in court.
In addition to having allegedly sexually-abused at least
eleven women, Trump is alleged to have not given to various charities in the
aftermath of 9/11 as he claimed. First in the primaries and now in the general election
Trump has made one false statement after another. In doing so he has destroyed
his own credibility. His well-documented inability to tell the truth is what
makes these allegations reasonably believable.
In latest speeches Trump has returned an earlier theme of
his speeches in the primaries, presenting himself as a savior who will keep the
nation from descending into chaos. This theme along with his dishonesty and
untruthfulness, his history of adultery, the growing number of allegations of
sexual misconduct made against him, his own admissions of not paying taxes, of
entertaining lustful thoughts about his own daughter and other women and of
acting on those impulses in several instances, his poor record of charitable
giving without strings attached or his benefiting in some way, and his furious
attacks on the women who have made allegations against him should be ringing
alarm bells and setting off warning lights in the minds of Christians,
evangelical and otherwise.
Christians have only one savior. His name is Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself warned against false Christs, false messianic figures that would
appear in the time between his ascent into heaven and his return in glory. Jesus
described himself not just as truthful but as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Jesus did not avoid paying taxes. He taught that to entertain lustful thoughts
towards a woman was the same as acting on such thoughts. Jesus commended those
who showed charity toward the poor and condemned those who withheld it. He
taught his disciples to turn the other cheek, to not let the sun go down on
their anger lest the devil exploit it, to love their enemies, and to do good to
those who hate them.
Before he began to run for the presidency of the United
States and to court the evangelical vote, Trump supported gay marriage and
abortion. Some Christians have supported Trump out of the belief that if Trump
is surrounded by strong advisers, a Trump presidency could be instrumental in
regaining ground lost in the culture wars. But since the primaries Trump has
shown that he does not pay attention to advisers. He may listen to them for a
while and then go back to doing things his way.
If anything may be gathered from the last few months, it is
that if Trump was elected president, he would be out of his depth. Thin-skinned
and volatile, with a short attention span, prone to fits of rage, and known for
holding grudges and going out of his way to make life miserable for anyone who
crosses him in any way, he would not be able to provide the country with stable
leadership.
Trump’s selection of Mike Pence as his running mate offers
no reassurance of stability. While Pence has reiterated his support of Trump over
and over again and has repeatedly defended him, there is evidence of
disagreement between Pence and Trump on a number of key issues. Pence gives the
appearance of playing to Trump’s base with an eye to a future presidential run
in which he will need their support.
Where does this leave Trump’s Christian supporters? They may
wish to distance themselves from Trump and to pursue other options. Should
Trump by an unexpected turn of events occupy the White House, I believe that
they will soon discover that he does not have their interests at heart. Trump has
been wooing them for their vote and not because he shares their world view and
values. Whatever dispute or disputes in which Trump is embroiled at the time and how his
own interests might benefit is likely to influence his choice of Supreme Court
justices.
