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Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem Endorses Ron DeSantis

Wayne Grudem is one of the most impactful theologians in Evangelical academia, specifically his Systematic Theology and previous work on major issues like female pastors. During the 2020 election, Wayne Grudem spoke out and critiqued John Piper’s article to comfort Biden voters. More recently, Wayne Grudem called on Trump to drop out of the 2024 presidential election. Now Wayne Grudem has taken a side in the contentious primary election. And his candidate is Ron DeSantis.

His article, “Ten Reasons Why I Am Supporting Ron DeSantis Instead of Nikki Haley or Donald Trump” provides his reasoning. What is surprising is that Grudem’s ten reasons are less about policy and more about character and background.

1. He is a veteran

Wayne Grudem plainly states that Donald Trump and Nikki Haley never served in the military and juxtaposes this with DeSantis’s military record. In making the case for DeSantis, Grudem writes:

One of the roles of President is to serve as Commander of Chief over the US armed forces. It is a great advantage to have a Commander in Chief who has a combined total of 15 years of military experience. It is especially important now that we have a Navy veteran as president, because our Navy needs massive expansion to regain superiority over the gigantic navy that has been built by communist China.

Grudem’s second reason was that DeSantis was a lawyer which he argues will help him on the job as President.

3. He is a former Congressman

This seemed offputting at first, but Grudem’s point is largely about relationships and familiarities with how Congress operates.

4. He beat his last Democrat opponent by a huge margin, far outperforming the polls

Indeed DeSantis has a track record of outperforming polling expectations, which is the thrust of Grudem’s argument. Here he takes his first shot at why Trump is particularly weak.

This is a significant indicator that Ron DeSantis would be a stronger candidate than Donald Trump in the general election: on the same election day with the same voters, Trump beat his Democrat opponent (Biden) by 3.4% while DeSantis beat his Democrat opponent (Crist) by 19.4%. DeSantis received many more votes than Trump did from Hispanic and independent voters. This suggests that in the 2024 general election for president DeSantis would do much better than Trump.

Grudem’s fifth reason focuses on intelligence citing the fact that DeSantis has an impressive academic resume going to Yale and Harvard.

6. He was a successful collegiate athlete

DeSantis was a starting outfielder for the Yale University varsity baseball team. In his senior year he was captain of the team and his batting average of .336 was the highest on the team. (As another point of interest, when DeSantis was 12 years old he was a member of the Little League team from Dunedin, Florida that took part in the Little League World Series in 1991.)

I realize that being a star college athlete cannot be counted as a qualification for office of the President of United States but I mention it because baseball is a truly American sport, and it seems appropriate to have a President who has been an outstanding baseball player. In addition, this athletic success required many years of hard work, and most Americans respect that.

This reason was, pun intended, out of left field. Yet Grudem seems to be building a case of likability and relatability.

7. He has already easily defeated Gavin Newsom in a 90 minute debate

Wayne Grudem previously expressed how he is skeptical that Joe Biden will be their nominee in November. Perhaps he views Newsom as the replacement, and that DeSantis whooping him in a debate is a foreshadowing of what’s to come.

8. He does not carry all the negative baggage that comes with Donald Trump 

Previously, Wayne Grudem seemed blue-pilled on the election and J6 narrative.

But Trump, by contrast, brings much negative baggage that has accumulated over time, baggage that many voters, especially independent voters, will see as reasons to vote against him. Here is some of the baggage that makes nominating Trump a huge risk for Republicans (I have elsewhere written more extensively about this baggage):

(1) Trump refuses to admit that he lost the 2020 election, which leads many voters (rightly or wrongly) to consider him a sore loser. 

(2) He recklessly refused to call off the protesters when the demonstration turned violent on January 6

(3 )  He is responsible for losing Republican control of the U.S. Senate in 2022 by making rash endorsements of weak Republican candidates in several states. 

(4) He has massive ongoing legal problems. I think the charges against him are illegitimate, but they still create a hindrance to his ability to campaign and cast a cloud of doubt over his past conduct. 

(5) He is 77 years old, and this carries a greater risk of unexpected health problems.

(6) Many voters, including many of my evangelical Christian friends, have ongoing concerns about Trump’s character. 

(7) Judging from numerous personal conversations, I think millions of Republicans feel a great weariness at the thought of having to defend Trump’s words and actions for another four or five years. 

Much of these are rehashed from his prior article calling for Trump to drop out and merely compared with DeSantis who has none of these issues. Even if Grudem’s views are incorrect, there remains a sizable chunk of the electorate that believes all seven points.

9. He (DeSantis) is not being promoted as much as Haley or Trump by the liberal mainstream media

I find it significant that much of the mainstream media keeps returning to stories claiming that “Trump is far in the lead!” or “Nikki Haley is surging!,” while they pay little attention to the DeSantis campaign. 

That approach makes sense if they realize that DeSantis is the strongest candidate and they would much rather have Republicans nominate Haley or Trump. I interpret the lack of media excitement about DeSantis as a positive sign that he is the Republican candidate most likely to win the general election.

Wayne Grudem is making the argument that DeSantis is the anti-establishment candidate that truly threatens the regime.

10. He will pardon former president Trump

Nikki Haley appears as an afterthought of the article urged by an editor, as she is nearly a nonfactor in the reasoning. Wayne Grudem does not focus on meaningful policy disagreements but rather focuses on background and integrity.

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