Christians are now getting freaked out by Trump
And that’s because his answers essentially removed the plausible deniability of the argument that many Christians have used to justify their votes for Trump: that though an “ imperfect vessel,” he was still a Christian, had received the gospel, and wants to be saved.
Key points
- These are the ABCs of the Christian faith — and they should theoretically be an easy answer to offer if, like President Donald Trump, you’re asked what might happen when you die, and what you might do when Judgment Day comes.
- And yet, when asked last week by Ross Douthat on 60 Minutes where Trump thinks he’ll go when he dies — and if he could forgive his political enemies if his salvation depended on it — Trump was brutally honest.
- “I do hate some of my enemies…I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.” “I'm a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven,” President Trump says, discussing what he thinks happens after death.
Why conservative Christians are actually divided over Trump this time That someone like Graham, one of the most widely respected American evangelical leaders, would weigh in at all this time shows how serious the concerns are among conservative Christians.
Additional details
- “I don't want to go to hell.” https://t.co/8o5y8hcqtY pic.twitter.com/5LexpK2jEP — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 9, 2026 The statements shook many Christians who watched clips or heard him say this on CBS.
- But in the wake of stunning losses for Republicans in last week’s midterm elections, when Trump’s grip on the GOP seems most tenuous, another crack seems to have emerged in his alliance with the Christian right.
- To enter Heaven, the Bible tells us that you must acknowledge your sins, turn from them in repentance, and receive Jesus Christ by faith.” Trump’s response to the question about heaven, though, showed no understanding of these requirements.
- This time, the criticism is coming from all over — from theological conservatives like the Eastern Orthodox Rod Dreher, from evangelicals and other Christians, from Catholics — and that’s because there are multiple problematic layers to his most recent polemic.
- His close ally, the evangelical pastor Franklin Graham, explained the importance of the question (but did not directly address Trump’s forgiveness response) in a post on X: “Heaven has borders.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.