Evangelicals’ reason for backing Trump 'just collapsed': columnist

Donald Trump — the former president responsible for the end of Roe v. Wade — last week claimed in a post published to Truth Social that if he wins the White House in November, he will turn into a reproductive rights advocate.

"My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights," he wrote, worrying staunch pro-life Republicans, like Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence.

NPR noted that the ex-MAGA official "called Trump’s comments 'concerning,'" and, "In a statement to the National Review, Pence said, 'The former President’s use of the language of the Left, pledging that his administration would be ‘great for women and their reproductive rights’ should be concerning for millions of pro-life Americans.'"

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In an op-ed published by The Atlantic Tuesday, columnist Peter Wehner submits that "the pro-life justification for supporting Trump has just collapsed," and that evangelical Christians — who have long supported Trump, particularly for his pro-life views — have been betrayed by the former president.

Wehner now wonders whether staunch anti-abortion Republicans will condemn Trump's flip-flopping ways or if they plan to usher him into the presidency no matter what.

Aside from switching up his stance on the issue of reproductive rights, the columnist points out that "ending Roe is not the same thing as reducing the number of abortions in America." He adds, "In fact, the number of abortions has increased since the 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe. As Philip Klein wrote in National Review, 'overturning Roe was only the necessary first step of a much longer battle to protect the lives of the unborn. And on that battle, it increasingly looks like Trump is joining the other side.'"

Wehner writes:

Who in the pro-life movement—Al Mohler, Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham, Eric Metaxas, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins, Robert Jeffress, and countless others—will speak out, publicly and forcefully and relentlessly, against Trump’s about-face? Will they tell the full truth, which is that abortions increased during the Trump presidency, that the pro-life movement is weaker than at almost any time in its history, and that, when it comes to making the Republican Party the home of the pro-life cause, Trump is doing unprecedented damage?

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Although The Atlantic columnist emphasizes, "This is not a hard call," Wehner recognizes that this level of boldness is unlikely.

"Trump deserves the disapprobation of evangelical Christians, not their vote," Wehner writes, "But he will get their vote, in overwhelming numbers, even if he has sold out the very cause they once professed greatest devotion to."

Wehner's full op-ed is available at this link.