Trump's evangelical base is ecstatic over his bible photo op, which many other Christian leaders have condemned
- President Trump's photo op outside St John's Episcopal Church on Monday has gone down well with evangelical Christians.
- There was otherwise outrage over the gesture, which involved clearing protesters using tear gas and rubber bullets.
- But commentators on the Christian right praised the president's "guts" and enjoyed the contrast with "lawlessness" and "liberals."
President Donald Trump has garnered adulation from some figures on the Christian right for posing with a bible outside St John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC on Monday.
The gesture, intended as a response to continuing unrest following the death of George Floyd, involved clearing demonstrators with rubber bullets and tear gas at Lafayette Square.
Outside the church, which had been burned during protests the night before, Trump held up a bible and declared himself America's "president of law and order."
Numerous church leaders — including those who were there at the time — have condemned the move as a cynical photo opportunity that caused havoc among peaceful protesters.
One senior White House official told Axios: "I've never been more ashamed. I'm really honestly disgusted. I'm sick to my stomach."
But, he added: "They're all celebrating it. They're very very proud of themselves."
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a pastor's son and evangelical, approvingly tweeted a black-and-white image of the scene with the comment: "Hard to imagine any other @POTUS having the guts to walk out of the White House like this."
Further outside of politics, evangelicals have hailed the episode as heroic.
Franklin Graham, an evangelist and longtime supporter of Trump, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that someone had asked him if he was offended by the move. He wrote: "I wasn't offended—I was encouraged by it!"
He then linked to a Facebook post in which he thanked the president for the gesture.
Robert Jeffrees, a Dallas megachurch pastor, told The Atlantic that he thought the moment was "completely appropriate."
He added: "By holding up the Bible, he was showing us that it teaches that, yes, God hates racism, it's despicable — but God also hates lawlessness."
In response to criticism from the Episcopal church leaders, Dr Shelton Smith, editor of Christian newspaper Sword of the Lord, tweeted that "ALL ARE WELCOME" at church and so should not criticize the president. "Typical liberals!!!!!" he added.
An analyst for the Christian Broadcasting Network, David Brody, said he preferred the image of Trump with a bible over "far left violent radicals setting a church on fire."