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The Gospel of Donald Trump Jr.

The former president’s son told a crowd that the teachings of Jesus have “gotten us nothing.”

By Peter Wehner

Donald Trump Jr. is both intensely unappealing and uninteresting. He combines in his person corruption, ineptitude, and banality. He is perpetually aggrieved; obsessed with trolling the left; a crude, one-dimensional figure who has done a remarkably good job of keeping from public view any redeeming qualities he might have.

There’s a case to be made that he’s worth ignoring, except for this: Don Jr. has been his father’s chief emissary to MAGA world; he’s one of the most popular figures in the Republican Party; and he’s influential with Republicans in positions of power. He’s also attuned to what appeals to the base of the GOP. So, from time to time, it is worth paying attention to what he has to say.

Trump spoke at a Turning Point USA gathering on December 19. He displayed seething, nearly pathological resentments; playground insults (he led the crowd in “Let’s Go, Brandon” chants); tough guy/average Joe shtick; and a pulsating sense of aggrieved victimhood and persecution, all of it coming from the elitist, extravagantly rich son of a former president.

But there was one short section of Trump’s speech that I thought was particularly revealing. Relatively early in the speech, he said, “If we get together, they cannot cancel us all. Okay? They won’t. And this will be contrary to a lot of our beliefs because—I’d love not to have to participate in cancel culture. I’d love that it didn’t exist. But as long as it does, folks, we better be playing the same game. Okay? We’ve been playing T-ball for half a century while they’re playing hardball and cheating. Right? We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference—I understand the mentality—but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution in our country.”

Throughout his speech, Don Jr. painted a scenario in which Trump supporters—Americans living in red America—are under relentless attack from a wicked and brutal enemy. He portrayed it as an existential battle between good and evil. One side must prevail; the other must be crushed. This in turn justifies any necessary means to win. And the former president’s son has a message for the tens of millions of evangelicals who form the energized base of the GOP: the scriptures are essentially a manual for suckers. The teachings of Jesus have “gotten us nothing.” It’s worse than that, really; the ethic of Jesus has gotten in the way of successfully prosecuting the culture wars against the left. If the ethic of Jesus encourages sensibilities that might cause people in politics to act a little less brutally, a bit more civilly, with a touch more grace? Then it needs to go.

Decency is for suckers.

Translating the teachings of Jesus into public life, and figuring out how they ought to influence the duties of the state, is a complicated matter. A decade ago, I wrote a book with Michael Gerson, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, in which we dealt with that issue, among others. But what we heard from Donald Trump Jr. was something very different. He believes, as his father does, that politics should be practiced ruthlessly, mercilessly, and vengefully. The ends justify the means. Norms and guardrails need to be smashed. Morality and lawfulness must always be subordinated to the pursuit of power and self-interest. That is the Trumpian ethic.

The problem is that the Trumpian ethic hasn’t been confined to the Trump family. We saw that not just in the enthusiastic and at times impassioned response of the Turning Point USA crowd to Don Jr.’s speech but nearly every day in the words and actions of Republicans in positions of power. Donald Trump and his oldest son have become evangelists of a different kind.

Their approach hasn’t been embraced by Republicans, of course. There are GOP governors and others in the Republican Party who embody a very different ethic, and for the sake of their party and their country, I hope they gain influence. But it would be naive and irresponsible to pretend that what we have seen since Donald Trump left office is the revivification of ethical standards and demands for moral excellence within the Republican Party.

Liz Cheney voted with President Trump more than 90 percent of the time but is now persona non grata in the GOP because she is willing to defend the Constitution and the rule of law and stand against a violent assault on the Capitol and an effort to overturn a free and fair election. When Liz Cheney is more despised in the party than the crazed Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Madison Cawthorn, or Donald Trump Jr., you know that the GOP has lost its moral bearings.

I understand that many Americans, including some number of Republicans I know, would rather we move on from the Trump family. But the Trump family and MAGA world won’t let us. And they’re playing for keeps.


https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/gospel-donald-trump-jr/621122/

Greed is good speach.

If ever there was a hollow suit.

And the evangelicals will pull the lever for the guy. The church has fallen.

This is what happens when they try to use one verse in the bible to label others as evil.

Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

They label someone else as evil and use scripture to excuse their actions.

It’s also what happens when many evangelicals become one policy voters. Abortion drives them to vote with little to no regard for the rest of the person running or their platform.
We have posters on this board that have all but admitted as such.

This in Spades.

That's why he was married to supermodel Vanessa Hayden and started hooking up with Kimberly Guilfoyle after getting divorced. He's also got a LOT of money in the bank. Is the author jealous much?



Trump and his awesome son Trump Jr. aren't the ones living in a basement, reading from a teleprompter.[/quote]



Dang right he is!



Good. Keep it going. >100,000,000 strong and growing!



Americans have definitely been ceding ground for the last 50 years, well, until a couple years ago when our eyes were opened to the fact that if America doesn't wake up, we'll keep having our rights stripped and our earnings taxed higher and higher. - We've been trying to fix America over the last few years.



This has been the liberal ethos for quite a while. It's about time somebody stand up and put an end to it.



Says Kamala



Aaaaand nobody read it, and that's why this author has turned to writing this divisive article.



I know lots and lots of former Democrats, Republicans, and Republican politicians who are on the Trump Bandwagon.



Darn right we are. We have a country to save for Americans of all genders, creeds, and colors. We believe in America and the right of all Americans in the pursuit of life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness.

100,000,000 strong and going? No wonder you think the election was stolen.

Don jr is a clown, and will always be a clown.

Really trump and jr. "awesome"?

How clever you are. Even your vocabulary is soooo awesome.

trump and his pimp son should restart trump U.

He is a fraud and jr is the son of fraud.

this is dumb

It's dumb that I posted an article about Don Jr. saying, “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference—I understand the mentality—but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution in our country”?

Seriously? Did the GOPers suddenly cancel Jesus? lmao... can't make it up.

Trash from The Basket.
Duped Deplorables speak up.
'Dumb' is on display.

Hollow rhetoric.
Brainless led by the Soulless.
What could go wrong here?

Dump and his junior:
More influence than Jesus.
Grifters over God.

just another libby circle smirk.

Abandoning christian principals to honor your orange God is something I would try to blame on others as well. You've been doing it for years now.

Stealing my lines again… Find your own material.

Donald Trump is an agent of the Russian government.

Yes, he is Putin's boy, bought and paid for.

Yes he is. Which makes trump a greedy socialistic communist. Proving my point that most trump loving deplorables, project their every flaw onto others.