Al Mohler vs Tucker Carlson: The Churchill Debate

Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson dropped an interview with historian Darryl Cooper that talked about the mythologizing of various events in world history, such as WWII and Jonestown. Many Evangelical leaders indignantly lashed out at Tucker Carlson, Cooper, and those sympathetic to their iconoclasm with a vitriol they lack for actual blasphemy and false teaching.

Samuel Sey was quick to write, alongside the woke Russell Moore and Owen Strachan, who both proudly denounced a podcast they clearly had not watched. Darryl Cooper made no claims about the Holocaust. With zero mentions, Cooper’s criticism of the German’s inability to handle POWs on the eastern front was used to levy holocaust denial and Hitler apologist accusations. Moreover, Cooper articulated that Hitler created an unnecessary war that ruined the British Empire, paving the way for the native populations of all of Europe to be replaced. 

The irony here is that none of Cooper’s spicy takes on World War II are novel. These were more commonly held views while veterans of the war were still alive. The late historian David Irving lamented the loss of the British Empire, crediting Churchill with the decline. Pattrick Buchanan wrote Churchill, Hitler, and “The Unnecessary War”: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World. This book was published in 2009 and was a New York Times bestseller.

To Al Mohler’s credit, he has read Buchanan’s work. To his detriment, he joins the Mid Eva midwits in not having watched the interview and is responding to flashy headlines. From the beginning of his response, it’s clear that Al Mohler idolizes Winston Churchill, through the paintings and bobbleheads in his library. He spends about half of his ten minute video depicting the funeral processions of Winston Churchill, concluding his popularity based on the honor he received. But for comparison, how many state funerals did John McCain receive, and he is not well regarded by many. Similarly, Mohler praises Churchill for being able to unite across the political divide, arguably misreading why the Labour Party allowed him to become Prime Minister in the first place.

Mohler acknowledges the blemishes of Churchill’s record, specifically Gallipoli in The Great War. He uses this to justify his admiration in a warts and all kind of way. But ultimately, he concludes that Winston Churchill saved Europe, without mention of handing over half the continent to Stalin who was definitively worse than Hitler. The Polish, Hungarians, Romanians, etc weren’t saved from anyone. Moreover, the British Empire fell and became the depressing shadow it is today.

What’s further interesting is that Al Mohler sees himself as the Winston Churchill of the Southern Baptist Convention. And the comparison is accurate. In Winning Not Winsome, I detail how Al Mohler helped plunge the Southern Baptist Convention into wokeness by hiring woke professors who then held institutional power. Without Al Mohler, there would have been no Resolution 9 in 2019 when the SBC embraced Critical Race Theory.

In the last two years, Al Mohler has made a pivot. The winds are changing. Al Mohler helped the liberals achieve power in the SBC who would take steps to thwart efforts to ban female pastors. Yet Al Mohler would be the figure leading the fight for banning female pastors in both 2023 and 2024. He also successfully defended himself from a struggle session on the floor of SBC24. Being the hero in problems he helped foment is quite Churchillian, come to think about it.