The president of the Southern Baptist Convention says he voted for Donald Trump in 2020, does not believe the election was stolen and is praying for "better choices" on the ballot in 2024 than Americans currently have.
Bart Barber, the newly elected president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination, made the comments during a new episode of 60 Minutes, acknowledging he did not vote for Trump in 2016 but changed his mind in 2020.
In 2016, Bart Barber didn’t vote for Trump, calling him “a demonstrably evil man.” In 2020, he voted for Trump because, Barber tells @andersoncooper, he “was encouraged by the consistent pro-life support that the president gave. I didn’t expect that.” https://t.co/dBKsC5Ayds pic.twitter.com/W8Ys57IVjA
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 9, 2022
"Part of what changed is that the president advocated for some legislation on sentencing reform, something that really addressed some injustice that affected minority communities," Barber told Anderson Cooper, referencing Trump's signing of the First Step Act. "I was encouraged by the consistent pro-life support that the president gave – I didn't expect that."
Barber, though, said he parts with Trump on allegations that the 2020 election was stolen.
Asked by Cooper if he believes the "2020 election was stolen," Barber replied, "no."
"You believe Joe Biden is the legitimate president of the United States?" Cooper asked.
"I do – absolutely. I pray for him consistently as the president of the United States. I believe he was legitimately elected," Barber said.
“I pray for [Joe Biden] consistently as the president of the United States. I believe he was legitimately elected,” Southern Baptist Conference president Bart Barber tells @andersoncooper. https://t.co/dBKsC5Ayds pic.twitter.com/UTVFg7I2Xm
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 9, 2022
The attack on the nation's capital on Jan. 6, 2021, following a Trump rally, Barber said, has impacted his view of the former president.
"I and a lot of Southern Baptists would be thrilled to have the opportunity to support someone for leadership in our country who's strong on the values that matter to us – who can do that without putting the vice president's life in danger," Barber said. … I want to be driven by the principles of Jesus Christ, and that does not involve mob violence. … Anyone who does support that – I'm less likely to vote for them because of their support for that."
“I…would be thrilled to have the opportunity to support someone for leadership in our country who’s strong on the values that matter to us, who can do that without putting the vice president’s life in danger,” Bart Barber tells @andersoncooper. https://t.co/dBKsC5S9C2 pic.twitter.com/aOahGj9sZI
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 9, 2022
Barber defended evangelicals' support for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
"We had to choose from the choices that were given to us," he said. "And that's an inescapable reality in our political system. … Under President Trump, they saw less backtracking on the things that were promised to them. I do think that Americans are hungry for strong leadership. I think that there's opportunity [in 2024 and beyond] for strong leaders to emerge who give us better choices. I'm praying for that."
“I just think that under President Trump, they saw less backtracking on the things that were promised to them.” Bart Barber tells @andersoncooper why he thinks evangelical Christians continue to support Trump. https://t.co/dBKsC5Ayds pic.twitter.com/47plqCUNcZ
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 9, 2022
Cooper asked Barber to comment on the "Christian nationalist rhetoric" that Cooper said is being used by some political leaders such as U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). The 60 Minutes episode played a clip of Boebert telling an audience, "The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church."
"It stands contrary to 400 years of Baptist history and everything I believe about religious liberty," Barber said. "I'm opposed to the idea of Christian dominion, churchly dominion over the operations of government."
“It stands contrary to 400 years of Baptist history and everything I believe about religious liberty.” Bart Barber explains to @andersoncooper why he’s deeply concerned by the Christian nationalist rhetoric increasingly being used by some elected officials https://t.co/dBKsC5S9C2 pic.twitter.com/K4lhAdT4Cf
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 9, 2022
"Why do you object to that?" Cooper asked.
"I object to it because Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world," Barber said. "I object to it, because historically, every time it's been adopted, it wound up persecuting people like me. It doesn't stop at persecuting people who are not Christians. It eventually winds up persecuting people who are Christians for whom the flavor of their Christianity is different from that of the government."
Partisanship, Barber said, is seeping into the church.
"Blind partisanship destroys everything," he said. "... So many things in church life and beyond that are areas where we have an opportunity to unite and solve problems, and we pass over that opportunity over and over again to shoot at the other team."
"And you see that filtering into the church?" Cooper asked.
"It's absolutely coming into the way that people in churches who ought to know better, are speaking to one another about the issues that are outside the church that aren't really theological," Barber said. "The best characterization is they're not listening."
Barber affirmed the Southern Baptist Convention's positions on abortion and sexuality.
"Our interest with abortion is not to police everybody's sex life," Barber said. "Our interest with abortion is that we believe that's a human person who deserves to live."
On the SBC's position on marriage and sexuality, Barber said, "We're committed to the idea of gender as a gift from God, we're committed to the idea that men and women ought to be united with one another in marriage."
Cooper asked, "Do you still believe that gay people can be, should be converted out of being gay?"
"I believe that sinners should be converted out of being sinners, and that applies to all of us," Barber said.
Cooper then asked, "Can somebody be a good Christian, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention and be gay or lesbian and married to a person of the same sex?"
"No," Barber replied.
Barber also said he supports recommendations by the SBC's Sexual Abuse Task Force, which was tasked with investigating sexual abuse within the convention.
"The reason why I'm president of the Southern Baptist Convention is because our churches … have taken action to correct those things," he said.
Photo courtesy: ©Public Domain/SBC
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
