In 2019, during the debates over the impeachment of the President, senator after senator said that the President had “learned his lesson.” In the days leading up to the Senate’s vote on the House’s impeachment, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said, “I believe that the president has learned from this case. The President has been impeached. That’s a pretty big lesson.” She echoed what many others had said.
However, it is clear that the President has, indeed, not learned anything from his impeachment or his tumultuous and scandal-ridden time in office, and neither have many of the elected officials who have blindly supported him and his belligerent, disrespectful, and dangerous behavior. Instead of changing his ways, the President has doubled down. He has been emboldened by his martyrdom, and so have his most ardent defenders. He continues to spew the baseless accusation that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and fraudulent. As Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said, there has been no evidence of any widespread fraud. Not one instance of intentional fraud has been proven in the more than 90 court cases the President’s lawyers have brought. In fact, in one of the cases the President’s lawyers even argued that their case was not a fraud case. Huh?
Now before Congress are articles of impeachment. Last week members of congress lined up to admonish attack on the capitol and the President for his part in it. But already those same members of congress are pulling back on their strong words.
In 2016, Sen. Graham called the President a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot,” and that, “He doesn’t represent my Party. He doesn’t represent the values that men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for. … He’s the ISIL man of the year.”1 He said, “You know how to make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell,” and even called him a “kook” and a “jackass.”2 However, within 1 year, Graham’s rhetoric flipped 180 degrees, saying in November, 2017, “What concerns me about the American press is this endless, endless attempt to label the guy as some kind of kook not fit to be president” (despite he himself calling the President a kook).3 In one year, Graham went from labeling his party “batshit crazy” for supporting Trump, even claiming that Trump is “not fit to be the President of the United States,” to defending him and becoming his golf partner. By January, 2018, Graham said, “In my view, he is my president and is doing a really good job” and later even said that Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize!4
Throughout his campaign and his presidency, the President has not been shy about mischaracterizing his opponents, school yard name-calling, and calling on his supporters to use violence against his enemies. He told crowd after crowd they should not hold back in response to protestors at his rallies.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Graham defended the President’s position that the election was riddled with fraud, despite no evidence. And then the rhetoric turned a very dark corner. He said on national TV, “There’s a civil war brewing.”5. On December 31, 2020, Graham told a rally crowd, “They [the Democrats] are going to roll back everything President Trump has done, and we’re not gonna let them. … We’re going to fight for those who fight for us.” It wasn’t just the President inciting violence.
Last Wednesday, after listening to the President and others encouraging the already riled up crowd to engage in a “trial by combat,” they carried their “Trump 2020” flags, wore their iconic red MAGA hats, and brought whatever they could as weapons (even crutches) and stormed the U.S. Capitol building, fought police (so much for “Blue lives matter”), and seized control of the building. Lawmakers hunkered in the House chamber as the the joint session of Congress came to frightening halt. President Trump sat in the comfort of the White House, and, according to reports from those inside, gleefully watched the mayhem he had help create. After several hours the dust settled, the joint session of Congress resumed the counting of electoral votes, and order was at least temporarily restored. In the end, five people died during the siege, including one police officer. Graham told the re-assembled congress, “Count me out. Enough is enough.” In a somewhat rambling speech, Graham finally declared that Joe Biden was the lawfully elected President of the United States. The next day, during a press conference, Graham admitted that the President “helped incite a mob riot.” “Use my words against me,” Graham once said during a committee hearing in response to the Senate’s refusal to even consider one of President Obama’s judicial nominees.
On Thursday, the White House released a video with the President reading off a teleprompter, claiming he “immediately” called on the National Guard (which doesn’t seem to line up with the facts). He called for calm and told those who broke the law, “You will pay.” While claiming to be defending American democracy in his 90-plus lawsuits and seeking a smooth transition of power, and “revitalizing the bonds of love and loyalty that bind us together as one national family,” he also says to his supporters, “Our incredible journey is just beginning.” That statement has yet to be unpacked.
With only 10 days left in the President’s administration, we hear again in the midst of another impeachment that the President has “learned his lesson.” On Sunday, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) said on CBS News’ Face the Nation that the President’s comments and involvement in encouraging the insurrection were “reckless.” But then he goes on to say that the President “should be very careful over the next 10 days that his behavior is what you’d expect from the leader of the greatest country in the world.” He said, “The President touched a hot stove on Wednesday, and is unlikely to touch it again.”
In the wake of the President’s video, Sen. Graham flipped again, saying during an interview on Fox News, “President Trump gave a statement last night [referring to the video] that was helpful. It hit the mark. He wants to move on to a peaceful transfer of power. He wants this to end.”
Sen. Graham, which words are we to use here?
Graham does not want to hold the President accountable for his actions. Sen. Collins’ words echo forward from 2019: “He has learned his lesson.” Really? Has he? What in the last five years shows that he is capable of “learning his lesson”? And, what is this journey that the President says is “just beginning”? Isn’t that just a call for more of the same, even as he feigns a commitment to law and order?
Now, I preached a sermon on Sunday about the baptism of Jesus, tying it to the creation of Genesis 1 as a means of claiming an identity as children of God. I have often said that all of creation belongs to God, and, therefore, all people are children of the living God; that we are “bound together” with God through creation. I suggested that the whole of scripture is a witness to God’s desire, as an act of love, to reconcile the disobedience and violence of humanity, embodied in God’s constant grace when we act selfishly, cause injury, or even reject God. Our baptism is a reminder of our identity as children of the living, loving, and grace-giving God of our creation, for, as Paul writes, nothing can separate us from the love of God revealed in Jesus (Romans 8.38-39). Jesus’ baptism is a reminder that God intends good for us and seeks our redemption from the ways of selfishness and violence. Even those who acted out of hate this past week, carrying symbols of Christian faith as they stormed the capitol, are still creations of the same God who’s spirit sweeps over the chaos of world.
Yes, may grace abound! But there are consequences for our behavior: there are consequences for not wearing a mask or taking the pandemic seriously; there are consequences for acting out of hate; there are consequences for acting violently. And I’m not just talking about legal consequences. The repercussions of such behavior radiate across our entire nation and world. The consequences of such behavior is injury to the wrong-doer as much as to those who are victims of it. In no way should my sermon on Sunday be understood to mean that those who stormed the capitol building should be excused or let off the hook, just as those who rioted this past summer under the guise of the Black Lives Matter movement should be brought to justice. So, too, should our President be held accountable for the pain and suffering he has caused, the hate that he has encouraged, the racism he has emboldened, the lies he has perpetuated from the highest office in our nation, and the resulting violence he has incited.
Though many of our lawmakers are making all of this about partisan politics, for me this is not about political party. This is about the morality and ethics, let alone the rule of law, that we lean on to establish order and seek peace in our communities. This is about people of Christian faith doing bad and harmful things that are completely antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. This is about families and friends being torn apart by loyalties that have become idols in flagrant disregard to the God in whom so many claim faith.
I am exhausted by it all. I am exhausted by my liberal friends seeking vengeance against conservatives, and I’m tired of my conservative friends screaming the alarms of socialism and claiming victim. I’m exhausted by the annual debates about what not to talk about at Thanksgiving tables. I’m exhausted by the lack of honesty and humility in our public discourse, as well as the lack of accountability for those who use social media as a shield and excuse to put out lambastic and intentionally hurtful comments. I’m exhausted by a pandemic that many of our nation’s leaders did not take seriously, even dismissing it and saying it will just “go away.” I’m deeply grieved by the nearly 2 million deaths worldwide, and nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. alone, let alone the millions of people who have been hospitalized, lost jobs, and grieving the loss of loved ones who died completely alone and separated from their families. I’m tired of the games, the flip flopping with the ever fickle winds of political expediency. I’m tired of adults acting like children, chanting on a plane at Sen. Mitt Romney like petulant teenagers, “Traitor! Traitor!” I’m tired of grown men and women yelling and screaming, dressing up like soldiers with real weapons of death at their side, and acting like children. This behavior, unlike most children’s behavior, has real and devastating consequences.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child,” the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian congregation of followers. He goes on to say, “When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” When will we put an end to childish ways? When will we grow up and start talking to one another in reasonable tones with the intention of seeking understanding rather than to just “win” some debate we’ve created in our minds? Do you think the people on the other side of your debate don’t want to feel safe or be successful in their lives, just like you? Do you honestly believe those on the other side of whatever lines in the sand you’ve drawn to categorize people do not want life, liberty, and happiness? The fundamental questions of those pursuits are about “how,” not “what.” Yes, we may disagree on the means, but the ends should be solidly imprinted on our souls. And if those pursuits are mutually agreed upon, then we must pursue them for the sake of everyone, not just a select number or type of people; not just those with whom we agree; not just the people we like or who are like us.
I am all about grace and I believe God’s grace is for everyone. However, holding the President accountable is not just about him. Grace sometimes is about accountability with an eye on the long haul and the bigger picture. It’s about all of us and what kind of world we want to live or raise our children in. It’s about how our communities will choose to move forward. If his behavior goes unpunished again (or still), it will further embolden those who believe “might makes right” and further quiet the increasingly silent majority who are horrified by what they are witnessing. The true silent majority are those who have sought to become adults and put an end to their childish ways. But that silent majority is silent because they are afraid. They are rightfully afraid of the virulent debates that rage on social media where people hide behind the comfort and safety of their keyboards, posting hurtful and hateful things for which they know no one can really hold them accountable. They are afraid of the mob that took over the capitol, the armed insurrectionist who show up at every protest and demonstration (even demonstrations by teachers trying to fight for their students!), the willfully ignorant who are willing to do terrible things when the argument doesn’t go their way. They are afraid of their own family members who refuse to engage in civil discourse, who refuse to listen, who refuse to be adults.
If the President’s behavior goes unpunished, just like a child without supervision or boundaries, those who mimic his behavior (and often take it to the next level) will be emboldened to act even bolder. What is to stop the next President or some other world leader from following in his footsteps? What is to stop him from trying to run again in 2024 and make a mockery of our political system? He has not and will not learn his lesson because he is incapable of doing so. He was brought up in privilege. He has leveraged his privilege for his own gain at the expense of anyone who stands in his way, and everyone around him has helped him do so because he has never been held accountable for his behavior. And for their troubles, most of those who have helped him have been thrown under the proverbial bus by him if they didn’t serve his intentions. For the sake of our nation, it’s time. Even with only days left in his presidency, the President must be held accountable for the death and destruction that he has wrought on our nation—and I’m not just talking about last Tuesday.
1 Gabe Ortiz, “12 Times Lindsey Graham Rebuked Donald Trump’s Candidacy,” America’s Voice, May 24, 2016, https://americasvoice.org/blog/12-times-lindsey-graham-rebuked-donald-trumps-candidacy (accessed January 12, 2021).
2 Lindsey Graham, “Lindsey Graham’s Hypocrisy: A 5-Act Tragedy,” Mother Jones, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j_cHlf5_p0&feature=emb_logo (accessed Jan. 12, 2021).
3 German Lopez, “Lindsey Graham, 2017: I’m tired of media portraying Trump as a kook. Graham, 2016: Trump is a kook,” Vox, November 30, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/30/16720814/lindsey-graham-trump-kook (accessed January 12, 2021).
4 Lindsey Graham, “Lindsey Graham’s Hypocrisy: A 5-Act Tragedy,” Mother Jones, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j_cHlf5_p0&feature=emb_logo (accessed Jan. 12, 2021).
5 Ibid.