The former politics editor of an evangelical publication who recently quit over the magazine’s pro-Trump stance likened his former employer to the right-wing news site Breitbart.
During an interview with CNN Thursday, former Christian Post editor Napp Nazworth said his publication’s recent editorial in support of Trump was “some sort of odd conspiratorial thinking,” which he likened to Breitbart’s Trump coverage.
In the Christian Post editorial, the publication noted that Trump still enjoys high favorability among evangelicals, and argued that “government elites” had worked together to compromise “due process” for the President “after illegally manipulating the nation’s national security and law enforcement apparatus behind the scenes, to depose a duly-elected sitting president.”
The pro-Trump editorial was published in response to a Christianity Today editorial last week that called for Trump’s removal from office. That editorial made waves as it was the first from a prominent evangelical publication to speak out in favor of impeachment.
Nazworth ended up quitting once he learned the Christian Post intended to not only publish the pro-Trump article, but also to give ongoing support to the President. Nazworth told CNN his former employer’s enthusiastic embrace of Trump was odd — in the past the magazine published editorials highly critical of Trump, including one that said he was a “scam.”
“We all agreed back then and understood who Donald Trump was,” Nazworth said. “I didn’t change my mind about Donald Trump, but some of the other editors did.”
“I’m worried now that without me there, that, you know, it will no longer be a place that presents the alternative view to team Trump and the evangelicals who support him,” Nazworth added.
Nazworth said he felt he couldn’t stay and support the direction the magazine was taking.
“I warned them. If you go down this road and join team Trump, then that will destroy the reputation of The Christian Post,” Nazworth said. “We had reached the impasse and I really had no other choice but to leave.”
Christian Post editor Napp Nazworth resigned after the publication of a pro-Trump editorial.
Aligning with President Trump would "destroy the reputation of The Christian Post… We'd reached an impasse. I really had no other choice but to leave," he said.https://t.co/VLL2TZFRr1 pic.twitter.com/fEMrrRsIgR— New Day (@NewDay) December 26, 2019
Well it’s good to feel important I guess. Did he really think his publication was an “alternate view”? If you have 50 employees and only one is uncomfortable with pledging loyalty to Trump, it never was an alternate view. Shep Smith could tell you that one voice cannot change the dominant narrative. He will do well to seek out a better job. Maybe he and Shep can work together.
It’s hard to know if this is truly a sign that evangelical support for Trump is starting to collapse. It’s ominous, though. Trump has always been a hard sell to evangelicals who truly believe (as opposed to those just pretending to be evangelicals so as to profit from them). Once the true believers start to open their eyes, it will be hard for the con artists within the movement to maintain their support for Trump for fear of being exposed for what they really are. That would truly spell the end for Trump.
Why does a religious magazine need a politics editor? Particularly a Christian magazine. Whatever happened to rendering unto Caesar?
The thing is, Trump’s base is not expanding, and it’s hard to see how it can (unless the Democratic nominee turns off a lot of people–either through what s/he says or what Trump flings at him/her). So everyone who leaves Trump’s camp reduces the size of his support.
Not necessary for a collapse to occur. More akin to the percentage-shaving that Trump’s dirt campaigns against HRC, and now Biden might cause. If these publicly stated opinions give pause to 5% or 10% of evangelical voters-- voting otherwise, or not at all? These comments will have bearing on the General Election.
jw1