You Cannot Claim to Follow Jesus and Vote for Donald Trump

Yesterday, I cast my vote early in what may be the most consequential election of our lifetime. While I have substantial disagreements with some of her positions, I proudly cast my vote for Vice President Harris.

Because if the last decade has made one thing crystal clear, it is that you cannot claim to follow Jesus and vote for Donald Trump. The two are fundamentally incompatible.

Trump, from his treasonous actions on January 6 to his history as a serial sexual predator to his denial of human-made climate change, is the antithesis of everything Jesus taught, lived, and died for.

Jesus was unequivocal about what it means to follow him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… And you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).

Trump’s entire being violates this core teaching. His rhetoric is rooted in division, derision, and contempt. While Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, Trump has systematically attacked and demonized immigrants, people with disabilities, communities of color, LGBTQ+ people, and women.

A vote for Trump is not a neutral act — it’s a choice that supports a worldview fundamentally at odds with the radical, inclusive love that Jesus embodied.

The contrast could not be more stark: Where Jesus lifts up the poor, Trump exalts the wealthy. Where Jesus welcomes foreigners, Trump builds walls and threatens to deport. Where Jesus heals the sick, Trump tries to strip away their healthcare. Where Jesus speaks truth to power, Trump wields lies to maintain power.

The earliest Christians called their movement “The Way” because following Jesus meant more than believing things about him — it meant living as he lived and loving as he loved. Trump represents everything that stands against that Way.

Jesus envisions a world where the last shall be first, where enemies are loved, where strangers are welcomed, where truth prevails.

Trump envisions a world where the powerful dominate the weak, where enemies are crushed, where foreigners are demonized, where lies are weapons in the pursuit of power.

And if a core task of the follower of Jesus to help bring about the Kingdom of God in this world, nothing does more at this moment to actively prevent the coming of God’s Kingdom than a vote for Trump.

Let me be clear: To cast a vote for Trump is to reject Jesus Christ. Anyone who claims to follow Jesus while supporting Trump is either woefully ignorant or worse — a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

To those who have supported Trump in the past: There is always room for repentance and return to the Way of Jesus. But that return requires acknowledging that support for Trump is incompatible with following Christ. We must choose this day whom we will serve.

The soul of our faith — and our democracy — depends on it.

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