Conservative Christian and religious right leader Ralph Reed is saying today that his attacks on then-President Bill Clinton two decades ago were about policy not character. Reed is one of many for right Christian evangelicals who are being called to face their utter hypocrisy – Franklin Graham is another.
Reed was once the executive director of Pat Robertson‘s powerful Christian Coalition for nearly a decade.
On social media, Reed has been quietly making the case that evangelicals support Trump because of his policies – which may be true, but that’s not the whole story. What is the whole story is that for decades the religious right has been preaching so-called Christian values come first, and those who do not practice them cannot lead the nation. That certainly was their argument about Bill Clinton.
Here’s Reed last month:
In March on Facebook Reed claimed it’s “total nonsense” to say “that evangelicals are hypocrites for supporting the Trump-Pence administration and its pro-life, pro-family, pro-religious freedom, pro-Israel policies because we opposed Bill Clinton based on his personal behavior.”
He added a comment he says he made in 1996:
“Some opposition has been deeply personal, attacking his character rather than his policies, and in so doing it risks permanent damage to the office he occupies. I oppose President Clinton’s policies, but I do not despise him. If Bill Clinton is a sinner, he is no worse than you or me.”
But that’s not the whole story, despite how convenient it may be for Reed.
Reed tried to use that quote in a Twitter conversation on Friday. But Peter Montgomery, a senior fellow at People for the American Way reminded everyone of the real Ralph Reed from the Clinton era.
That quote, as Montgomery notes, is from a 1998 New York Times article, “The Testing of a President: The Conservatives – Christian Coalition Moans Lack of Anger at Clinton.”
Today, the same people who attacked President Clinton’s character are supporting, defending, and advocating for a President who has demonstrated far worse behavior.
RELATED: FRANKLIN GRAHAM’S ASTONISHING UNGODLY HYPOCRISY
Bottom line: the Christian Right, the religious right, and evangelicals have been caught – “bigly” – in their sheer and utter hypocrisy.
And now they’re trying to whitewash and re-write history to protect themselves and President Trump. That cannot be allowed.
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license