With few exceptions, the religious right’s response to Donald Trump’s sickening, degrading, and potentially criminal comments about women is that they don’t matter nearly as much as derailing abortion and marriage equality. Uh huh. So in order to do that, they are willing to put this nation’s future in the hands of a man who proved long before these tapes came out that he is manifestly unfit to be president.
We got more proof of this on Tuesday. A veteran culture warrior actually claimed with a straight face that Trump is still worthy of social conservatives’ support even in the face of the depraved behavior revealed on those tapes. Why? Wait for it–if Hillary Clinton wins, there may not be a nation left to fight for.
Focus on the Family founder and former leader James Dobson was one of the earliest religious right leaders to support Donald Trump; he’s a member of Trump’s evangelical advisory board. Any questions about that support were put to rest when Dobson dropped by the popular Christian conservative talk show “Point of View” to discuss the election. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.
Congressman Louie Gohmert was sitting in for regular host Kerby Anderson that day, and said that while “I deeply regret” Trump’s behavior, he was still standing by the Donald because he was “more concerned about America having a future.” Dobson agreed, saying that from where he’s sitting, this country’s future is “hanging in the balance.”
Dobson then launched into what at first glance sounded like standard religious right agitprop–concern about “the definition of marriage” and the prospect of kids going to school where “a man can walk in on a girl” in the bathroom. To his mind, it’s evidence that “we’ve gone nuts.”
But then Dobson went off the rails. He called Trump’s comments “inexcusable” and said he “didn’t want to minimize them”–and then preceded to minimize them.
“But as awful as they were, they don’t threaten the future of this nation. And to elect Hillary Clinton because of this terrible language is to turn America on its ear and weaken it, and we will never recover from it.”
Okay, Jim. I’ll play. If you’re so concerned about the future of this nation, you should be concerned about our image both at home and abroad. What message will it send if we allow a man who brags that he can “move on” any woman he wants and “grab their p**sy” because he’s a celebrity to become our president? And what message would it send if we allowed a man who blows off such talk as “entertainment” and “locker room talk” in the White House?
Moreover, Trump himself has done a pretty good job of proving why the behavior portrayed on that tape is indeed a direct threat to this nation. While on the trail in Florida, the Donald harrumphed that the numerous women who have come forward to claim he assaulted them are lying because they were far too ugly for them to even be worth assaulting. Let’s call this for what it is, folks–victim shaming of the worst type. And we would effectively be condoning it if we elected Trump president.
Former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields quickly recognized the danger of such talk.
Sad, but I'm sure there are more women Trump sexually assaulted who are watching this & thinking its best to keep quiet than go through this
— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) October 13, 2016
And not just other potential Trump victims either. It could have a chilling effect on anyone who has been molested and wants to come forward. If Dobson believes that allowing this sort of outrageously criminal behavior to go unpunished doesn’t threaten our future, he’s even more out of touch than I thought.
We already had reason to question whether Dobson really believed in protecting women. After all, for the better part of three decades, he has told people in abusive relationships that divorce isn’t the answer, no matter how abusive their spouse gets. Rather, he believes they should try to change their spouse’s behavior–even in cases where it seems the marriage is beyond repair.
But if Dobson seriously believes that putting a depraved and debauched jerk in the White House isn’t a clear and present danger to our country’s future, that puts it beyond any doubt. Let’s not sugarcoat it–he is willing to put ending abortion and marriage equality above protecting women. Frankly, that’s almost as deplorable as what Trump said on that tape.
(featured image courtesy Heartbeat International, available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license)
