One of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) most prominent Black pastors, Dwight McKissic of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, has rebuked Donald Trump and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House, saying “he would hire her in a heartbeat.”
In a column published Sunday by NBC News, McKissic said that while he continued to hold conservative views on topics such as abortion and same-sex marriage, his decision to back Harris is grounded in character and competence, rather than strict adherence to social issues.
Evangelical Christians are a key voter bloc for Trump and Republicans, whose support for culturally right-wing policies like opposition to legal abortion and LGBTQ+ rights have long drawn socially conservative, highly religious voters.
High turnout among white evangelical voters would be key to a Trump victory on November 5, but his relationship with the demographic has faced some tension as his positions on some of these social issues have at times been less rigid than those of other conservatives.
The Texas pastor specifically took aim at the Republican nominee’s alleged extra-marital affairs and his myriads of legal battles. Last year, Trump was found liable for sexual battery and defaming one of his accusers, columnist E. Jean Carroll, in a civil case. He was ordered to pay over $80 million in damages.
Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, speaks during services in Arlington, Texas, on June 6, 2021. He has rebuked Donald Trump and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House
Associated Press
McKissic writes that evangelical leaders’ acceptance of Trump despite his alleged immoral conduct is hypocritical, contrasting it with their past condemnation of former President Bill Clinton‘s indiscretions.
“The party I knew and loved would have never chosen as its nominee the adulterous, childish, habitually lying and criminally convicted Donald Trump,” McKissic wrote. “Evangelical leaders rightly called Clinton out for his sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky and then his lying about it. It’s astonishing to see these same leaders ignore Trump’s many sex scandals and ignore that he was found liable in court of sexually abusing a woman.”
Newsweek has emailed the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment Sunday morning.
He continued, “It’s sickening to see people who say they read and believe the same Bible I do not only refuse to denounce Trump, but endorse his candidacy.”
According to a poll from Lifeway Research, Trump’s support among Christian pastors has changed since 2020, with 61 percent of evangelical pastors who responded to the survey saying they plan to vote for Trump, compared to 68 percent in the poll conducted in September 2020.
During several rallies this fall, Trump has called on evangelical Christians to vote, saying, “I’ll tell you another one that don’t vote, I love these people, evangelical Christians. The Christian community doesn’t vote as much as they should; they go to church. So now what we are going to do is go to church and we are to get out and vote. If they did vote, we couldn’t lose an election.”
For more than 40 years, McKissic said he supported Republican candidates because they aligned with his values, advocating for the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and opposing abortion. This position led him to support Texas’ constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and to join then Governor Rick Perry in campaigns that distinguished gay rights from civil rights.
However, McKissic argues that the Republican Party has significantly changed, especially since Trump’s emergence in 2016. He criticizes Trump as adulterous, dishonest and criminally convicted, qualities McKissic finds incompatible with presidential leadership.
McKissic said he appreciates Harris’ consistent dedication to her faith, introduction to the church at an early age, and continuous involvement in the church as an adult. Her background, characterized by humble beginnings and professional accomplishments, mirrors qualities McKissic said he values and trusts.
“As a pastor for more than four decades, I’ve had to hire for a variety of positions. Not just other ministers, but also CPAs, counselors, communication specialists, contractors, engineers, lawyers, even custodians,” he wrote.
“If Harris’ resume came across my desk and I was able to interview her, not knowing a thing about her political views, I would hire her in a heartbeat. Why? Because on paper she represents a person of good character and someone who can be trusted.
He added a quip, “Oh, and she can pass a background check.”
Reflecting on Trump’s presidency, McKissic points to instances of violence and divisiveness linked to Trump’s campaign rhetoric. In 2017, during Trump’s presidency, the SBC pastor urged Trump to “join with many other political and religious leaders to proclaim with one voice that the ‘alt-right’ is racist, evil, and antithetical to a well-ordered, peaceful society.”
The 2017 letter from McKissic and other evangelical leaders came in the wake of Trump’s varied and widely criticized responses to white nationalist rallies that turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia. The president alternated between blaming both sides for the violence and condemning groups like white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan.
“Despite all we know about Trump—his numerous adulterous affairs, his multiple felony convictions, his race-baiting, his violent rhetoric, his repeated lies, his not resembling Christ or His church in any way—there are people who warn evangelicals against abandoning the ‘party of their faith’ for a Democrat.
“There’s a scripture in the seventh chapter of Matthew that says a tree that doesn’t bear good fruit should be cut down and tossed into the fire. That’s how I think evangelicals should treat today’s Republican Party.”