MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” used President Trump’s speech at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service over the weekend to shine a spotlight on the powerful, seemingly contradictory support the president continues to receive from American Christians.
During his speech, Trump spoke about how Kirk followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, including by wanting the best for his enemies. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent,” Trump told the service’s crowd to roars of laughter. “I don’t want the best for them. I’m sorry.” The remark, as well as the cheers that Trump received from those in attendance, baffled “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough.
“You either get it or you don’t get it,” Scarborough said in response to Trump. “I mean, one of the things you do learn is that — if you follow Jesus’ commandments — it’s actually better for you in the end.” The MSNBC anchor went on to point out the contradictory nature of a Christian crowd seemingly cheering on hate, observing, “That’s where you’re like, ‘Wait, these two things do not go together.’”
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself in the video below.
New York Times columnist David French told Scarborough he believes Trump’s Christian support does not come in spite of his hateful streak but because of it. “This is what politics is doing to American Christianity,” French explained. “It is creating this face of vengeance, because Americans know he has the power to work his vengeance because of the church. It is the church that put him in the Oval Office, the Evangelical Church more than any other American constituency.”
“When he spoke like that, [it] wasn’t in contradiction of what so many Christians wanted out of their president. It is exactly why so many Christians voted for this president,” French concluded. “That’s the frustrating complexity of what is happening in this moment.”
Charlie Kirk’s grieving widow, Erika, also spoke at her husband’s memorial service Sunday. In a moment that flew in the face of Trump’s remarks, Kirk told the crowd that she has forgiven Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of killing her husband, because it is what her faith and the father of her children would want her to do.
“That man, that young man,” Kirk said of Robinson. “I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.”
