As we all know, one of the biggest reasons Donald Trump was able to remain standing despite anemic approval ratings was because the religious right remained firmly in his corner. From the time he came down the Trump Tower escalator, he showed that he was manifestly unfit and unqualified, not to mention he reveled in degrading women and made outright fascistic attacks on his critics.
No, no—all that mattered to these so-called moral guardians was that he had promised to give them everything they wanted on social issues. As if we needed a reminder, we got one earlier this week from CNN contributor and former Republican strategist Alice Stewart. She claimed—with a straight face—that the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade proves supporting Trump was worth it.
In her previous life before signing on as a CNN contributor and a fellow at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics, Stewart worked as a communications adviser for several Republican campaigns and conservative groups. However, she is most proud of her tenure at Concerned Women for America, one of the oldest religious right groups.
Like many ardent social conservatives, Stewart was dancing a jig at the leak of a draft decision overturning Roe. As she saw it, it vindicated her support for Trump despite “the mean tweets and online insults.” She openly claimed that decision was “our reward” for supporting Trump, despite his depravities.
So what if we were inflicted with a president who acted like a depraved jerk on a regular basis? Oh no, Stewart says. That was perfectly okay as long as he followed through on giving us a Supreme Court that would reverse Roe.
Democrats, as well as Never-Trump Republicans, said that in supporting Trump, I was "making a deal with the devil." Some people even accused me of selling out my conservative principles. But I held my ground, and now my patience is being richly rewarded: We have a Supreme Court with a majority-judicial philosophy that reflects my views on Roe v. Wade.
The
draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito upholding Mississippi's pro-life legislation and overturning Roe v. Wade isn't final, but it presages an enormous victory for the pro-life movement.
People like me who voted for Trump, in the belief that the Supreme Court ought to be our highest priority, should feel vindicated.
Riddle me this, Alice. So if a president revels in degrading women, mocks the disabled, claims even mild criticism is “fake news” churned out by “enemies of the people,” condones violence, spews blatantly racist yacht horns, and lies over 30,000 times, all of that is okay as long as he appoints the right judges. If you’re willing to say that with a straight face, you are as morally bankrupt as Trump.
I read this, and I am reminded of why I walked out on the pro-life movement in 2011, and ultimately swung all the way back to being pro-choice in 2014. If Stewart and others are willing to support any schmuck, any thug, any reprobate who makes the right clucking noises about abortion, then there’s an ulterior motive at play. And even though I should be receptive to pro-life arguments on paper as a charismatic Christian, I’m having none of it.
At least as problematic as what Stewart wrote is when she wrote it. This comes as evidence continues to pile up that Trump and his inner circle incited the horror of Jan. 6. You mean to tell me that we should overlook Trump’s role in stirring up a deadly insurrection, as well as the Big Lie, because he ultimately paved the way for overturning Roe? If gutting abortion rights is so important that we must excuse attacks on democracy, it’s more proof that I didn’t leave the pro-life movement, the movement left me—and I’m not sure if I was ever part of it.
Stewart appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 on Friday night to discuss the draft alongside USA Today’s Kirsten Powers. Watch here.
I would have liked to see Cooper or Powers ask Stewart how she could claim voting for Trump was worth it when it is now clear that he not only incited a violent insurrection to stay in office, but spent two months wailing about fraud when he almost certainly knew that he had lost. If rolling back abortion trumps that, then it is more proof that the pro-life movement is unworthy of support.
