Ballot Boxing: Are evangelicals in Clinton’s ‘basket of deplorables?’

Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail this week after falling ill at a 9/11 service Sunday in New York City. The Democratic nominee’s physician said the candidate had a mild case of pneumonia, but Clinton’s near-collapse after her sudden departure from the event stoked ongoing speculation about her health.

It was a tough week for Clinton on other fronts. A new catchphrase entered the campaign 2016 lexicon after Clinton said roughly half of Donald Trump’s supporters fall into a category she called “a basket of deplorables”— people who are “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.”

Clinton later said the total number of deplorables was perhaps less than half of Trump’s supporters, but the Republican nominee pounced, saying the episode disqualified Clinton for the presidency: “If Hillary Clinton will not retract her comments in full, then I don’t see how she can credibly campaign.”

But given Trump’s own history of inflammatory language, it may be difficult for him to sustain a credible attack on Clinton’s combustible remarks. Rick Tyler, former campaign adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) summed up the dynamic: “Pot, meet kettle.”

Still, Trump may gain traction from the comments if voters wonder who Clinton has in mind when she talks about deplorable people.

For example, all of the categories Clinton mentioned are deplorable, but what constitutes homophobia in her mind? Is it hating and mistreating homosexuals (certainly deplorable), or is it simply openly disagreeing with homosexuality based on biblical convictions (particularly in the case of evangelicals)?

All of the categories Clinton mentioned are deplorable, but what constitutes homophobia in her mind?

On that front, Clinton opposes religious liberty laws aimed at offering conscience protections to business owners opposed to same-sex marriage. At a speech to the Human Rights Campaign last fall, she told the crowd they were going to “face some ridiculousness” from GOP presidential candidates opposed to same-sex marriage. And she called the ban on adoption by same-sex couples in a handful of states “one of the cruelest vestiges of anti-gay bigotry.”

At a campaign stop in Greensboro, N.C., yesterday, Clinton took aim at North Carolina’s HB2 law that says people in government buildings must use the restroom corresponding to their birth sex. Private businesses may make their own policies.

Advocates of the bill say it’s common-sense legislation, and not based on hatred of transgender people. Clinton told the crowd in Greensboro: “This is where bigotry leads and we can’t afford it.”

If Clinton’s definition of homophobia includes public opposition to homosexuality or policies aimed at addressing privacy concerns, many evangelicals—including ones who don’t support Trump—may find themselves tossed into Clinton’s “basket of deplorables.”

Meanwhile, Trump continues to demur on similar questions. In April, he said he opposed the HB2 law. By July, he said the state should be able to decide.

When he speaks about religious liberty, Trump usually talks about repealing IRS rules banning non-profit organizations (including churches) from endorsing political candidates (the Johnson Amendment).

But he doesn’t publicly mention business owners like bakers, florists, photographers, and others who might ask for a narrow exception to decline participating in a same-sex wedding.

When a reporter from CBN specifically asked about such cases, Trump said he would do exactly what he promised a group of pastors earlier in the day. Trump had said religious leaders “believe so much in religious liberty, as I do, very much, because without religious liberty you don’t have liberty.”

It’s still unclear what he thinks about how the law should apply to cases of Christian conscience in a climate that promises to grow even more fraught over the next four years.

Either way, Christians have an opportunity to resist the narrative of deplorability by acting honorably, even when the culture despises some of their beliefs. As the Apostle Peter told the early Christians in a decadent culture: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”