To about half the country, it appears the other half has lost its ever-loving mind. And forgotten how bad things really were in 2020.
But here we are again — just like in 2016 — with the most dangerous man in America going back to the White House. We are stunned, saddened, scared and seriously worried.
Some of you who voted for Donald Trump said you dislike his character and don’t trust him but you favor his policies or the people you think he’ll appoint to run the federal government. Apparently you’ve forgotten about Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions. And you’ve forgotten about children separated from their parents. You’ve forgotten about millions dead from COVID and the personal financial graft Trump and his family pulled off for four years. Apparently you failed to grasp the scope of Project 2025.
You’ve also told us you do not care about truth. You are willing to dismiss — even celebrate — Trump’s narcissistic and undying lying. You do not care that he is a convicted felon, a rapist, a business fraud and a snake-oil salesman. Therefore, you no longer get to preach or teach on the importance of truth-telling, whether from the pulpit or from the parental perch. You have demonstrated truth does not matter to you.
There is a price to be paid for what’s coming. And come 2028, we’re likely to see the same kind of anti-MAGA backlash we witnessed in 2020. There will be no unity, no restoration, only more division. There can be no unity until truth is restored as a cardinal virtue.
In 2016, a good friend who did not vote for Trump attempted to console some of us by declaring, “This won’t be as bad as you think.”
Wrong. It was far worse. Even my friend — a former lifelong Republican — would admit that in retrospect.
“Please do not attempt to comfort those of us who loathe Trump and everything he stands for by saying, ‘Oh, this won’t be as bad as you think.’”
So please do not attempt to comfort those of us who loathe Trump and everything he stands for by saying, “Oh, this won’t be as bad as you think.” It most likely will be worse.
In fact, it will be so bad that even a large number of you who put the man back in office will rue the day you cast your vote. When that day comes, I want you to reread this column and remember we tried to warn you and you didn’t believe us.
When your wife or daughter or sister experiences an ectopic pregnancy and can’t access life-saving medical care, remember it was your vote that harmed her.
When your son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter comes out as gay and can’t get hired or find a place to live because of their sexual orientation, remember it was your vote that shut them out.
When your son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter kills themselves rather than face the persecution of being transgender, remember their blood is all over your ballot.
When measles and polio and rubella come roaring back in the most developed country in the Western world, remember you voted for the man who told you in advance he would appoint as his health adviser an unhinged anti-vaxxer. Not to mention the problems your grandchildren will experience with their teeth when the federal government bans fluoridation of public water supplies.
When your local public schools suffer from underfunding, remember you voted for the folks who want to divert public school dollars to private Christian schools.
“Remember you voted for the guy who promised mass deportations of the immigrants who harvest your food.”
When the price of groceries goes up and keeps you from feeding your family, remember you voted for the guy who promised mass deportations of the immigrants who harvest your food.
And most of all, when you lovingly tell your daughter or granddaughter or niece she can be anything she strives to be in life, remember you refused to vote for a female candidate for president who was imminently more qualified than the deranged white male you chose instead.
Is all this too harsh? I don’t think so. But time will tell. If Trump behaves this time the way he behaved last time, it’s definitely not too harsh.
You may be reading this with steam coming out of your ears and swearing I’m the cruelest liberal you ever knew. I’ll take that criticism. Just bookmark this column and re-read it in four years.
Time will tell which of us is right.
Mark Wingfield 2024
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He is the author of Honestly: Telling the Truth About the Bible and Ourselves and Why Churches Need to Talk About Sexuality. His brand-new book is Troubling the Truth and Other Tales from the News.