Marcia Meoli: Trump, not Pence, has support of white evangelicals

Last month, I addressed the exhortation by former President Trump to his Vice President Pence that Pence was “too honest” when Pence refused to unilaterally disqualify legitimate electors from six states in the 2020 presidential election. I addressed the portion of honesty that relates to truthfulness.

But there is another aspect to that issue that Trump had trouble with. Pence was refusing to do something Trump wanted that Pence thought was wrong. Sure, Pence needed to speak truthfully to Trump when refusing to take this action. But Pence was also drawing a boundary with Trump. After years as vice president of supporting Trump, doing “who knows what” as part of that process, Pence finally said “no” to Trump. Pence is now portraying himself as the ultimate patriot with this as he runs for president himself.

The issue here is integrity. Looking up the definition for this word, I see truthfulness mentioned but it is really more about incorruptibility and adherence to a code of values. In that instance, Pence exhibited these values with Trump, who had and has no value for them.

Pence is now cultivating an image of adherence to a Christian code as a presidential candidate. He has shown signs of this before. He always mentioned Christian values (as he sees them), opposing abortion and homosexuality as many Christian groups do, and refuses to meet alone with any female unless his wife is present. (Does he still say and do this? How did he get through four years as vice president without meeting on an equal basis with others in the administration who happen to be female?) It appears that this is Pence’s form of integrity.

Back to voters, particularly in West Michigan. I used to attend a large Evangelical church in the area where the pastors (at that time) would not meet in certain settings with female parishioners. Because (at that time) they did not allow female pastors, that meant, in my view, that female parishioners received less access to their pastors and less for their spiritual development. Females with spiritual needs would likely need to look elsewhere. Females simply working on an event for the church were in the same situation. (I am told that things have changed at the church since we left and I hope so, for the sake of the female parishioners at least!)

For local conservative Christian voters familiar with this norm, one would expect that they might support Pence, not Trump, in the campaign for the Republican nomination for president. Pence is reflecting their values. Trump, who has a history of spending intimate time with females who are not his wife, is not. (Not that Trump is a feminist, by any means. His treatment of women in leadership and elsewhere was abominable, even worse than his treatment of men.)

Trump likes to use mafia references in his dealings, apparently. It is interesting what parts of the fictionalized mafia culture he chooses to emulate. In "The Godfather," the fictionalized Don Corleone was portrayed as a consummate family man and loyal to those who are loyal to him. A line from one of the movies was that the Don kept his friends close but his enemies closer (to understand them and deal with them more effectively). Just a movie, of course, but some of it makes sense and clearly part of it is that he treated his friends well and with loyalty.

Trump turns this upside down as seen by his history. He treats anyone who has not submitted to him as enemies and ridicules them. For those who have submitted, he throws them under the bus when something goes wrong. Note his treatment of Pence, Guiliani (Trump apparently stiffed him on legal bills), the governors of Georgia and Florida. The list is long and seemingly endless.

Trump, not Pence, has the support of white evangelical voters. Pence makes constant speeches about his anti-abortion credentials and makes no headway in his quest for the nomination. Observers are saying that Pence is old-fashioned in this way and that he is speaking to a Republican Party that no longer exists.

What does this say about the integrity of the voters who still support Trump? What moral code are you adhering to in this support? What happened to the Christian voters worried about how children would react to Bill Clinton’s mistakes with a White House intern? Or other issues of how people act in public?

Many of us will never understand this support of Trump or the people who profess this support.

— Community Columnist Marcia Meoli is a Holland attorney and resident. Contact her at Meolimarcia@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Marcia Meoli: Trump, not Pence, has support of white evangelicals