>>> WELCOME BACK TO "MORNING JOE," A 2018 POLL FROM THE PEW
RESEARCH CENTER, ASKING FAITH
GROUPS WHETHER THE U.S. HAS
RESPONSIBILITY TO ACCEPT
REFUGEES FOUND THAT MORE
THAN 2/3 OF WHITE EVANGELICALS
BELIEVED AMERICA DOES NOT HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY.
RESPONSIBILITY. 25% SAY THE COUNTRY DOES.
THAT NUMBER IS FAR LOWER THAN
OTHER FAITHS AND THE RELIGIOUSLY
UNAFFILIATED.
UNAFFILIATED. IN THE ATLANTIC, PETER WANER
WRITES IN A PIECE CALLED THE
DEEPENING CRISIS IN EVANGELICAL
CHRISTIANITY.
CHRISTIANITY. THERE IS A VERY HIGH COST IN
POLITICS FOR CELEBRATING THE
TRUMP STYLE, WHAT IS MOST
PERSONALLY PAINFUL TO ME AS A
PERSON OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS
THE COST TO THE CHRISTIAN
WITNESS, NONCHALANTLY, IN FAVOR
OF A POLITICAL LEADER, STRONG
SHOULD RULE OVER THE WEAK,
JUSTICE HAS NO INTRINSIC WORTH.
MORAL VALUES ARE SOCIALLY
CONSTRUCTED AND SUBJECTIVE IS
TROUBLING ENOUGH BUT THERE IS
ALSO THE UNDENIABLE HYPOCRISY OF
PEOPLE WHO ONCE MADE MORAL
CHARACTER AND ESPECIALLY SEXUAL
FIDELITY CENTRAL TO THEIR
POLITICAL CALCULUS AND WHO ARE
NOW EMBRACING A MAN OF BOUNDLESS
CORRUPTIONS.
CORRUPTIONS. DON’T FORGET, TRUMP WAS
ESSENTIALLY NAMED AN UNINDICTED
COCONSPIRATOR IN A SCHEME TO
MAKE HUSH MONEY PAYMENTS TO A
PORN STAR WHO ALLEGED SHE HAD AN
AFFAIR WITH HIM WHILE HE WAS
MARRIED TO HIS THIRD WIFE WHO
HAD JUST GIVEN BIRTH TO THEIR
SON.
SON. WHILE ON THE PACIFIC COAST LAST
WEEK, I HAD LUNCH WITH CAROL
COPAK WHOM I’VE KNOWN FOR MANY
YEARS AND WHO HAS PLAYED AN
IMPORTANT ROLE IN MY CHRISTIAN
PILL GRA
PILL GRA PILGRIMAGE.
PILGRIMAGE. SHE LAMENTED THE EFFECT THIS
MORAL FRAEKEAK SHOW IS HAVING ON
THE YOUNGER GENERATION THE WE’RE
USING AN ENTIRE GENERATION.
THEY’RE JUST GONE.
IT’S ONE OF THE WORST THINGS TO
HAPPEN TO THE CHURCH.
WITH US NOW, REPORTER FOR THE
"WASHINGTON POST," EUGENE SCOTT,
AND EUGENE, I MEAN, THIS IS
SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE
SAW, I GUESS, I HAVE TO SAY,
IT’S MILDLY NOW WITH BILL
CLINTON WITH THE WHOLE MONICA
LEWINSKY SCANDAL AND HAD AN
IMPACT ON TEENAGERS, AND WHAT
THE MEANING OF THIS IS.
I’M NOT GOING TO RELIVE IT.
THIS IS DIFFERENT.
THERE’S A LACK OF CARE ABOUT ANY
CORE HERE, AND IS IT POSSIBLE
THAT THIS PRESIDENCY IS
IMPACTING THE EVANGELICAL
COMMUNITY AND TAKING AWAY THEIR
CORE VALUES.
CORE VALUES. >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. AND PETER MAKES A VERY IMPORTANT
POINT.
POINT. YOU’LL SEE THAT MILLENNIALS AND
WE’LL SEE SOON, GENERATION Z ARE
DISCONNECTING FROM CONSERVATIVE
COMMUNITIES IN PART BECAUSE OF A
LACK OF INTEREST AND A LACK OF
CONFIDENCE THAT THESE
COMMUNITIES HOLD THE SAME VALUES
THAT THEY HAVE PROFESSED FOR
YEARS, AND ONE OF THE REASONS
WHY THEY DO THAT OR THEY BELIEVE
THAT IS BECAUSE THEY SEE IN THE
POLITICAL SPHERE WHAT
CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS ARE
SUPPORTING AND WHAT THEY’RE NOT
SUPPORTING.
SUPPORTING. WE HAVE SEEN RECENTLY IN ANOTHER
PEW POLL THAT NO GROUP SUPPORTS
KEEPING REFUGEES OUT OF THE U.S.
AT HIGHER RATES THAN
CONSERVATIVE WHITE EVANGELICALS
AND YOU HAVE YOUNG VOTERS,
MILLENNIALS BEING ONE OF THE
LARGER VOTER BLOCKS WHO CARE
ABOUT THESE ISSUES, THEY WANT TO
SEE A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY CARE
AS WELL.
AS WELL. AND RIGHT NOW THAT’S NOT WHAT
THEY SEE.
THEY SEE. >> YOU KNOW, JIM, THIS IS A
DRAMATIC
DRAMATIC DRAMATIC SHIFT AND WHAT PETE
WANER TOUCHES ON ARE OPENNESS TO
REFUGEES, NOT TALKING ABOUT
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, I’M TALKING
ABOUT REFUGEES FOR WHOM PEOPLE
CAN LEGALLY SEEK REFUGEE STATUS,
AND THIS IS A SHIFT THAT HAS
GONE ALONG WITH TRUMP.
THEIR VIEWS HAVE BENT, AND
GOTTEN ACTUALLY CLOSER TO DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. IT HASN’T GONE THE OTHER WAY,
AND WHAT’S SO FASCINATING AS
PETE WEHNER POINTS OUT, WE’RE
TALKING ABOUT THE CORE OF
JESUS’S MESSAGE, WHETHER YOU’RE
A BELIEVER OR NOT, YOU READ THE
GOSPEL AND THE CORE IS IN
MATTHEW 25, JESUS SAYS IF YOU
WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOU’RE
GOING TO GO TO HEAVEN OR NOT,
IT’S WHETHER YOU HELP THE POOR,
WHETHER YOU HELP THE HUNGRY, I
MEAN, THAT’S THE CORE OF THE
MESSAGE.
MESSAGE. YOU CAN LOOK AT THE STORY, THE
GOOD SAMARITAN, THINGS THAT
WHITE EVANGELICALS HAVE BEEN
TAUGHT THEIR ENTIRE LIVES, AND
THINGS THAT THEY ACTUALLY WERE
DOING WHEN I WENT OVER TO
HURRICANE KATRINA, I SAW A LOT
OF EVANGELICAL ORGANIZATIONS,
BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT WAS DOING
THEIR JOB PROPERLY.
THEY WERE THERE HELPING.
THIS IS A PRETTY RADICAL
DEPARTURE.
DEPARTURE. SGLF
SGLF >> IT SHOWS THE DANGER OF WHEN
YOU HAVE A FAITH, WHEN YOU HAVE
CHRISTIANITY COLLIDE WITH
POLITICS.
POLITICS. IF YOU GO BACK A DECADE AGO, AND
YOU WOULD HAVE PAINTED THE
PORTRAIT OF DONALD TRUMP AND
TOLD THE EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY,
THIS IS THE GUY YOU’RE GOING TO
BE WHOLEHEARTEDLY EMBRACING,
PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SAID THERE’S
NO WAY THAT COULD HAPPEN.
AND TRUMP IN PRIVATE REMARKS IN
ASTONISHMENT THAT CHRISTIANS ARE
HIS BASE.
HIS BASE. HIS NUMBERS ARE HIGHER AMONG
EVANGELICAL CHRIS
EVANGELICAL CHRIS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS THAN
GEORGE BUSHES WERE.
EVEN LOOK AT THE REFUGEE
QUESTION, IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE
VIEWING THAT QUESTION THROUGH A
POLITICAL LENS.
POLITICAL LENS. THEY SEE REFUGEES AND THEY THINK
IT’S A FIGHT OVER THE WALL OR
IMMIGRATION, AND ALL OF THOSE
STEPS NOW HAVE BECOME POLITICAL
AND TRUMP KNOWS THIS, AND HE’S
REALLY PUTTING A LOT OF THOUGHT
INTO HOW DO I GET HIGHER TURNOUT
AMONG EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS, HE
KNOW HE HAS CREDIBILITY, LARGELY
BECAUSE OF THE COURT, A LITTLE
BIT BECAUSE OF HIS LANGUAGE, BUT
THE COURT.
THE COURT. CHRISTIANS FEEL UNDER ATTACK,
THEY DISAGREE WITH THE COUNTRY
IS GOING ON ABORTION AND THEY
LOOK AT WHAT TRUMP IS DOING IN
TERMS OF THE TWO JUSTICES HE HAS
PUT ON THE COURT, WHAT HE SAID
ABOUT ABORTION, AND FOR WHATEVER
REASON, THEY THEN SUSPEND
DISBELIEF ON A LOT OF OTHER
TOPICS THAT IN THE PAST I DON’T
THINK A LOT OF CHRISTIANS WOULD
HAVE TOLERATED.
HAVE TOLERATED. THERE’S STILL A LOT OF
CHRISTIANS THAT DON’T TOLERATE
THIS.
THIS. IT’S A BIG SEGMENT OF THE OLDER
EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY.
EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY. >> 68% SAYING THERE’S NO
RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE CARE OF
THE IMMIGRANTS AS THEY CROSS
INTO THE UNITED STATES, THAT
THERE ARE CHURCH GROUPS DOING
INCREDIBLE WORK DOWN AT THE
BORDER, YOU KNOW, EVANGELICAL
GROUPS DOWN AT THE BORDER AND
HAVE BEEN FOR MANY MANY YEARS.
THERE ARE EVANGELICALS WHO PUT
OUT AN OPEN LETTER AGAINST THE
MUSLIM BAN.
MUSLIM BAN. THERE ARE PEOPLE STANDING UP IN
THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY BUT THAT
IS A POLITICAL QUESTION.
THAT 68% IS A DEFENSE OF DONALD
TRUMP, A MAN THAT MANY OF THEM
HAVE SAID, LOOK, WE ELECTED A
PRESIDENT, NOT A SAINT, A GUY
WHO WOULD STAND UP FOR US.
>> AND I THINK THERE ARE MANY
PEOPLE, I WOULD INCLUDE MYSELF
IN THE MANY PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT
THERE ARE MULTIPLE ISSUES ON THE
TABLE IN THE COURSE OF THIS
CAMPAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
THERE’S THE BORDER, THERE IS,
YOU KNOW, THE FUTURE OF NATO,
THERE IS THE MIDDLE EAST AND
THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT I THINK
THE CORE OF THE CAMPAIGN IS WHAT
THIS MAN, THIS ONE MAN HAS DONE
TO ALTER OUR COUNTRY.
WE NOW HAVE THE ACCEPTANCE OF
ABNORMALITY AS A HUGE UNDERLYING
ISSUE IN THIS CAMPAIGN, AND IN
EVERY DAY AMERICAN LIFE AND THE
ACCEPTANCE OF CRUELTY, THE
ACCEPTANCE OF MISSOLE JUDGEYOF E
AN OBLIGATION TO ADDRESS THESE
ISSUES IN SOME FORM OF FASHION.
WHAT HAPPENS IS IT HAS ALTERED
THE REALITY OF AMERICA AND THE
IMAGE OF AMERICA AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD. >> AND WHAT A BITTER BITTER
IRONY THAT YOU HAVE A POLITICAL
MOVEMENT THAT YOU NOW HAVE A
SUBSET OF THE CHURCH, STEVE
KORNACKI, THAT IS SO OBSESSED
WITH THE APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL
JUDGES OVER THE TREATMENT OF
YOUNG CHILDREN, WORRIED ABOUT
THE UNBORN AND SEEMINGLY
DISMISSING HOW CHILDREN ARE
TREATED, HOW INFANTS ARE
TREATED, HOW TODDLERS ARE
TREATED, HOW THESE CHILDREN ON
THE BORDER ARE BEING ABUSED.
THERE IS NO DOUBT, AND I KNOW
THIS AS SOMEONE WHO GREW UP IN
THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH.
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE
SINGLE MOTIVATING FACTOR
OVERRIDING ALMOST EVERY OTHER
FACTOR IS THE APPOINTMENT OF
FEDERAL JUDGES.
FEDERAL JUDGES. SO THE APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL
JUDGES NOW TRUMP ACTUALLY WHAT
JESUS WRITES ABOUT IN MATTHEW
25, TALKS ABOUT IN THE GOSPELS
ABOUT TAKING CARE OF THE POOR,
THE DISADVANTAGES, THE HUNGRY,
THE THIRSTY.
THE THIRSTY. >> YEAH, I MEAN, IT’S BEEN
FASCINATING, FOR ALL THE REASONS
THAT HAVE BEEN POINTED OUT HERE
TO FIGURE OUT THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN EVANGELICALS AND DONALD
TRUMP PLITOLITICALLY AND HOW THI
ALLIANCE CAME TO BE AND YOU
POINT TO FEDERAL JUDGES, GEORGE
W. BUSH APPOINTED ALL SORT OF
CONSERVATIVE FEDERAL SQUUJJUDGES
AND WASN’T DOING NECESSARILY AS
WELL WITH EVANGELICALS AS TRUMP.
THE BEST EXPLANATION FROM
TALKING TO FOLKS THAT I CAN COME
UP WITH IS I THINK THERE’S BEEN
A BROADER, OUTSIDE OF OUR
POLITICS, THERE’S BEEN A BROADER
SHIFT IN OUR CULTURE.
IT’S A GENERATION’S LONG THING,
BUT SINCE BUSH HAS BEEN
PRESIDENT AS WELL, WHERE THE
CULTURE, ITSELF, I THINK HAS
GROWN RAPIDLY MORE SECULAR, HAS
GROWN RAPIDLY MORE LIBERAL IN
AREAS.
AREAS. GUY MARRIAGE OVER THE LAST
COUPLE OF YEARS, ALL SORTS OF
DIFFERENT QUESTIONS THERE.
AND I THINK MORE AND MORE
CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALS HAVE
LOOKED TO THE COURTS FOR
PROTECTION AND FOR CARVE OUT
WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGIOUS
LIBERTY, THE CULTURE IS MOVING
SO FAST THISIN THIS DIRECTION, T
COURTS ARE WHAT CAN PROTECT OUR
OWN LIBERTY.
OWN LIBERTY. I THINK THAT IS WHAT MADE THAT
ISSUE SO IMPORTANT TO
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS, COMPARED
TO WHERE TESTIFIES WHEN GEORGE
W. BUSH WAS PRESIDENT.
>> YOU KNOW, SUSAN PAGE, TIM
CARNEY POINTS OUT THAT
EVANGELICAL HAS NOW BECOME A
LABEL THAT DOESN’T NECESSARILY
MEAN THAT YOU’RE A CHURCH GOER.
AND EVANGELICALS WHO ATTEND
CHURCH REGULARLY VOTE FOR DONALD
TRUMP IN FAR LOWER NUMBERS THAN
THOSE WHO JUST SELF-IDENTIFY AS
EVANGELICALS.
EVANGELICALS. >> YOU KNOW, THE TREND WITH
WHITE EVANGELICALS DID NOT START
WITH DONALD TRUMP.
IT WAS A TREND THAT BEGAN BEFORE
THAT, THOUGH HE HAS CERTAINLY
EXACERBATED IT.
EXACERBATED IT. AND I THINK THE MAIN REASON IS A
MORE SINGULAR FOCUS BY WHITE
EVANGELICALS ON THE ISSUE OF
ABORTION.
ABORTION. IT’S MADE THE APPROACH TO
POLITICS MORE TRANSACTIONAL,
IT’S MADE WHITE EVANGELICALS
ABLE TO SAY THEY DON’T CARE
ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PERSONAL
BEHAVIOR, THEY CARE ABOUT HIS
WILLINGNESS TO TAKE WHATEVER
STEPS ARE NECESSARY TO OPPOSE
ABORTION RIGHTS AND HE HAS
DELIVERED FOR THEM IN A VARIETY
OF WAYS INCLUDING IMPORTANTLY IN
HIS COURT APPOINTMENTS.
ONE OTHER THING, INTERESTING
THAT IN THE PUGH POLL, THE MOST
SUPPORT FOR TAKING CARE OF
REFUGEES CAME FROM PEOPLE
WITHOUT A RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATION.
ORGANIZATION. 2/3 OF THOSE SEE A
RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE CARE OF
REFUGEES.
REFUGEES. I THINK THAT IS INTERESTING.
IT GOES TO THE FACT THAT SOME
PEOPLE SEE THIS NOT AS A
RELIGIOUS UPIMPERATIVE BUT A MOR
ONE, AND I THINK THAT’S WHAT WE
SEE REFLECTED, A BROADER
AMERICAN VALUE WITH PEOPLE
WITHOUT A RMGSELIGIOUS AFFILIATI
NOT ONE AFFILIATED WITH THEIR
PARTICULAR FAITH.
PARTICULAR FAITH. >> YOU KNOW AND THAT SHOULD BE
SHAMEFUL, MIKA TO THOSE
EVANGELICALS SAYING THEY DON’T
HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO GIVE
A CUP OF WATER IN JESUS’S NAME.
ALL THE THINGS, AGAIN THAT YOU
CAN READ, MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE
AND JOHN, ALL THE THINGS THEY
SUPPOSEDLY
SUPPOSEDLY SUPPOSEDLY WERE TAUGHT THEIR
ENTIRE LIFE THEY ARE THROWING TO
THE SIDE BECAUSE OF THE
APPOINTMENT OF FEDERAL JUDGES.
IT IS THAT SIMPLE.
IT IS THAT SIMPLE.
THAT IS THE OVERRIDING FACTOR
AND IT’S SHAMEFUL.
AND SUSAN PAGE SAID, IT DIDN’T
JUST START WITH DONALD TRUMP.
THIS WAS ALSO THE CASE WITH
GEORGE W. BUSH.
I TOLD YOU THE STORY OF A PASTOR
I KNEW IN PENSACOLA WHO HAD TO
SIT DOWN DURING THE W YEARS AND
ACTUALLY TELL PEOPLE IN HIS
CHURCH THAT YOU CAN BE A
CHRISTIAN AND STILL NOT SUPPORT
GEORGE W. BUSH.
THE MERGER OF POLITICS AND
RELIGION HAS REALLY INFECTED THE
CHURNL
CHURNL CHURCH, AND IT’S OF COURSE THE
CHURCH THAT’S GOING TO PAY FOR
IT IN THE LONG RUN.
>> CONSIDERING THE CONSIDERATION
WE JUST HAD, WE THROW THIS STORY
OUT THERE FOR YOU THIS MORNING.
>>> "THE WASHINGTON POST"
REPORTS THAT THIS WEEKEND, A
MIAMI AREA STRIP CLUB WILL HOLD
A GOLF TOURNAMENT AT PRESIDENT
TRUMP’S CLUB IN FLORIDA IN WHICH
GOLFERS CAN PAY FOR A DANCER TO
SERVE AS THEIR CADDY GIRL WHY
THEY PLAY.
THEY PLAY. THE MARKETING DIRECTOR FOR THE
STRIP CLUB TOLD THE "POST."
THAT THERE WOULD BE NO NUDITY AT
THE RESORT AND ON THE COURSE RGS
CADDIES WOULD WEAR PINK MINI
SKIRTS AND WHAT HE CALLED A SEXY
WHITE POLO.
WHITE POLO. THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION TOLD THE
POST THE EVENT IS FOR A
WORTHWHILE CAUSE, A MIAMI
CHILDREN’S CHARITY BUT SAID THEY
WERE NOT AWARE THAT THEY CREWSED
THE TRUMP NAME AND FAMILY CREST
IN ADVERTISEMENTS.
IN ADVERTISEMENTS. LOVELY.
LOVELY. JIM.
JIM. SUSAN PAGE, THANK YOU BOTH.
>>> STILL TO COME, THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION HAS A NEW SETBACK
IN ITS FIGHT TO ADD A
CONTROVERSIAL CITIZENSHIP
CONTROVERSIAL CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO THE 2020 CENSUS, A
FEDERAL JUDGE HAS DENIED THE
REQUEST TO SWITCH UP THE LEGAL
TEAM.