David Brody: Trump’s Court Journalist

Some of you are familiar with David Brody, the Chief Political Analyst at CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) News and the author of The Faith of Donald J. Trump: A Spiritual Biography.  He often claims to be a legitimate journalist and chronicler of American politics, but in reality he is a pro-Trump advocate.  Here are a few of his recent tweets:

That @60Minutes interview with @realDonaldTrump tonight was a homerun for @POTUS . Honestly, he was making @LesleyRStahl look like a foolishly out of touch liberal reporter. Painful to watch if you like Lesley Stahl.

— David Brody (@TheBrodyFile) October 15, 2018

Hey mainstream media: remember this when experiencing migraines trying to figure out the relationship between evangelicals and @realDonaldTrump : God uses IMPERFECT people to accomplish his PERFECT will. The Bible is full of these type of TRUE stories! @CBNNews

— David Brody (@TheBrodyFile) October 12, 2018

A message from conservative evangelicals to President Trump: “STOP! We are so sick of WINNING!Brett Kavanaugh confirmed and Pastor Andrew Brunson released in one week’s time? ENOUGH!” @CBNNews @realDonaldTrump @POTUS #PastorAndrewBrunson

— David Brody (@TheBrodyFile) October 12, 2018

Hey liberal media, wrap your collective heads around this: evangelicals LOVE this president MORE and MORE each day. @realDonaldTrump has now effectively shaped the Supreme Court for at least a generation. They believe God is behind it all. They’re rejoicing tonight. @CBNNews

— David Brody (@TheBrodyFile) October 8, 2018

Today Brody has a piece at USA Today titled “Supreme Court and Andrew Brunson return show God sent Trump for ‘such a time as this.'”

The title itself implies that Brody seems to have a hotline to God.  He knows that Donald Trump is part of God’s will to make America great again and restore America to its Judeo-Christian roots.  This kind of certainty about God’s will in the world has long been a hallmark of American fundamentalism.

Brody then expounds on the Old Testament book of Esther.  He writes:

Esther is considered a hero in the Jewish history books.  Evangelicals see Donald Trump in a similar way: an unlikely hero, put in a place of influence, “for such a time as this.”  No, not turn back the clock on civil rights.  Today’s authentic, Bible-believing evangelicals have no tolerance for racism of any kind.  Rather, they see God’s hand at play to usher in a new era in support of traditional Judeo-Christian principles.

Two quick responses to this paragraph:

• This is classic Brody.  He writes about “evangelicals” in the third person as if he is only reporting on what they believe.  Yet he continues to tweet as a politico and pro-Trumper.
• Like Brody, I don’t know many evangelicals who would say they want to “turn back the clock on civil rights” (but I know they are out there).  But I know a lot of evangelicals who will not condemn Trump’s racist comments or the way those comments fire-up the white nationalists in his base.  Let’s remember that Robert Jeffress (who Brody quotes glowingly in his USA Today article) said Trump “did just fine” in his comments in the wake of the race riots in Charlottesville.  I also know a lot of evangelicals who have no problem chanting a phrase like “Make America Great Again” or wearing a MAGA hat.  As I have said multiple times at this blog,  in Believe Me, and on the Believe Me book tour, America has never been “great” for everyone–the poor, people of color, women, etc….

Brody concludes:

Romans 13:1 declares, “There is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Evangelicals believe this promise, and that’s why they are supremely confident that Donald Trump and his Supreme Court have been heaven-sent.

I did not hear Brody or other conservative evangelicals making this argument during the Clinton or Obama presidencies.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions used Romans 13 to justify separating children from their parents at the border.

Read Brody’s entire piece here.

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What are evangelicals thinking about our country these days? Should the Supreme Court Protect Abortion Laws from Democracy? The Mar-a-Lago evangelicals are back with something called the “National Faith Advisory Board.” Let’s break it down! Court evangelical James Robison: Trump acted “like a little elementary schoolchild”