The email inbox of Thomas McKenzie, an Anglican priest in Nashville, is drowning in backlash after he penned an anti-Donald Trump essay in response to the Republican presidential front-runner’s rhetoric and mounting success.
About a week before Tennesseans overwhelmingly picked the billionaire real-estate mogul as their Republican candidate on March 1, McKenzie, pastor at Church of the Redeemer, published “This Isn’t Funny Anymore: Why I’m Voting Against Donald Trump” on his personal blog. The priest describes himself as apolitical and doesn’t think it’s his place to give endorsements, but said he could no longer stay out of the fray. He said he had a responsibility to say something.
“I felt like we’ve never had a serious presidential candidate with his kind of character before,” McKenzie said. “One of the things that he says would have damned most people to never running for public office again. So I just assumed he’d go away.”
Trump has taken heat for his alienating comments, including anti-Muslim and anti-immigration stances, throughout his candidacy. Violence has broken out at his campaign rallies, which draw protesters as well as supporters. Due to clashes between both, Trump canceled a Friday rally in Chicago.
On Sunday, Trump made a handful of TV appearances and spoke about his rallies, and explained that some his supporters are angry at the country’s failings, USA TODAY reported.
“I don’t condone violence,” said Trump on CBS, but added that a punching victim at a North Carolina rally “had a certain finger up in the air” and it angered his supporter.
McKenzie jumped into the frenzy with his Feb. 25 post, which he said (continue reading at The Tennessean)