This column is not about politics. It is about basic human decency, civility, and respect for women.
The latest fracas involving Donald Trump began when a Super PAC, unaffiliated with the Cruz campaign, produced an ad featuring a nude photo of Donald Trump’s wife wrapped in fur, taken from a GQ magazine spread.
Senator Cruz and his campaign had nothing to do with the ad. In fact, they are prohibited by law from interacting with Super PACs in any way. The only way the senator could have gotten involved, by urging the Super PAC to take down the ad, for example, would be to break the law.
The truth, with whom he has a “tenuous relationship,” has never slowed Trump down. He immediately and falsely blamed the ad on Senator Cruz, just as he continues to falsely accuse him of lying about what went down in Iowa. Not only did Trump maliciously blame the ad on Cruz, he threatened Cruz’s wife, Heidi, saying he would “spill the beans” on her.
Then last night at 10:55 pm, Trump sent out a Tweet indicating he had “no need to spill the beans” on Heidi because “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Included in the Tweet were side-by-side images of a glamour shot of Trump’s wife next to the most unappealing photo of Heidi Cruz Trump could find.
Two things are noteworthy here. This Tweet is an admission on Trump’s part that there are no beans to spill. If Trump had them, believe me (to quote Trump himself), he would have spilled them. It was an empty threat.
By all accounts, Heidi Cruz is an accomplished and intelligent woman, and a devoted wife and mother. She had one well-chronicled but brief battle with emotional issues in 2005. If Trump was thinking about making an issue out of that, he would be an even more despicable character than he has already proven himself to be.
His campaign style has been to relentlessly belittle, insult, degrade, and demean his political opposition, including Dr. Ben Carson, a man who on anybody’s scale is above reproach.
But attacking a political adversary’s wife in such an ugly fashion is beneath contempt to a spectacular degree, even for a man of Trump’s gutterish instincts. This is a man who publicly lacerated Carly Fiorina for her appearance, and now is insulting and degrading Heidi Cruz for hers. (The silence, by the way, from feminists is deafening.)
The bottom line here is that Donald Trump is a mean-spirited, vindictive man virtually devoid of character. He is worthy of no respect. Evangelicals, and evangelical leaders in particular, should get as far away from this man as they can as soon as they can. We are far past the point where any evangelical can in good conscience defend or excuse this man’s character and behavior.
Jesus said, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20). I’ve seen enough of Donald’s Trump diseased orchard to last me a lifetime.
