Donald Trump is shook.
You can tell the “president” is shook because every time he is, he starts flailing on Twitter, tweeting out whatever nonsense he can think of to put up a brave front—but his words usually belie that enormous front and reveal that deep down inside, he is afraid of whatever may be coming next for him.
In this particular instance, what comes next may, in fact, be impeachment hearings that could eventually lead to his ouster from office.
Sure, impeachment should have happened a long time ago, because nothing about this man says he should be sitting in the highest office in the land, but that is neither here nor there, at this point. We currently have members of the House actively calling for him to be unseated, and as the days pass it looks like the likelihood of that happening is growing, so he is once again afraid and once again tweeting nonsense to try and “scare” the American people into keeping him in place.
And so, as it goes, on Sunday, Trump tweeted a quote from an evangelical Southern Baptist preacher—Robert Jeffress—who thinks Trump is the best thing to happen to the United States since white bread.
“If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal,” Trump wrote, noting that it was a quote from Jeffress. Jeffress made the statement during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday.
According to the Washington Post, Jeffress has been a staunch supporter of Trump since early 2016 and has considered him “a true friend” to evangelical Christians. He introduced the then-presidential candidate at a campaign rally in January 2016 and then gave a speech endorsing Trump a month later in Fort Worth, Texas.
And that’s not all. The Post reports:
Since then, the pastor has been one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters. He uses the Bible to defend the president’s actions and brushes away allegations of immoral conduct, from extramarital affairs to alleged sexual assault, by emphasizing Trump’s record on filling the judiciary with conservative justices and pushing for policies that limit access to abortion.
His speeches regularly appear on Fox News, and Jeffress gave a private sermon to the president-elect and his family before Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2017. He was one of the guests honored by name at a dinner Trump held for evangelical leaders. Trump has shared and replied to Jeffress in the past on Twitter, promoting the pastor’s book releases in 2017 and last January. The pair has appeared together in public on several occasions.
Jeffress has called “Never Trump” Christians “absolutely spineless morons” and compared them to the German Christians in the 1930s who did not try to stop the Nazis. He has called the Mormon Church a “cult,” and personally attacked Republican Mitt Romney over his faith in 2011. He once compared Trump’s border wall to the gates to heaven, because both signify “not everybody’s going to be allowed in.”
Yikes.
Several members of Congress openly condemned Trump’s parroting of Jeffress’ rhetoric, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican representing the state of Illinois who is also a decorated Air Force veteran and served the country as a pilot in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kinzinger quoted Trump’s tweet and wrote on Twitter, “I have visited nations ravaged by civil war. @realDonaldTrump I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant.”
Two Democratic Senators—Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii—also spoke out against the tweet.
“Hey @brianschatz - question,” Murphy tweeted. “The President just said that if Congress impeaches him, his suppporters [sic] will rise up in armed insurrection. ‘Civil War,’ he says. So tomorrow will Senate Republicans a. support impeachment inquiry; or b. condemn him in strong unequivocal terms.”
Schatz responded, “It’s c. do absolutely nothing. Or it could be d. Furrowed brow, deep concern. Or we might see e. Hillary emails George Soros Deep State.”
“Oh, right. Probably a mix of (c) and (e). It’s just so frightening. He is going to keep talking like this and some people are going to listen and do what he asks,” Murphy replied.
As the Post notes, this is not the first time Jeffress has issued a dire warning about what could happen to the country if Trump were to be impeached. He told Fox host Lou Dobbs on Friday, “I really don’t like what’s going to happen to this nation...If he is removed, this country is finished.”
Hyperbole aside, Trump has absolutely ruined the office of the presidency, and the Republicans have stood idly by as he has done it. They continue to back him even though he shows time and time again that he is only serving his own self-interests. So maybe, just maybe, it’s Republicans and Trump—and not the impending impeachment—who are destroying this country.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said as much in a series of tweets early Monday morning.
Quoting Trump’s tweet, Raskin wrote, “Lincoln created the Republican Party and gave his life in order to save the Union. Trump ruined the Republican Party and now threatens to destroy the Union in order to save his job.”
“With charity towards none and malice for all, Trump invokes ‘a Civil War like fracture,’ he continued.
“Lincoln: To save the Union, he would give his life. Trump: To save his job, he would destroy the Union,” Raskin concluded.
Yes. Exactly.