Christianity Today, a magazine founded by Billy Graham, published an editorial by Mark Galli calling for President Trump’s removal from office. The magazine tends to stay away from partisan politics, but President Trump’s actions, and his continued evangelical support, were enough for the magazine to depart from precedent.

Galli sees President Trump’s actions around Ukraine as not only an abuse of power, but as “profoundly immoral.” This behavior, says Galli, fits nicely into the pattern Trump’s presidency, where he has “dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration.”

Galli aims most of his fire at fellow evangelicals who continue to support Trump. He argues that if the community saw President Clinton’s actions as disqualifying, Trump’s actions should elicit the same response. Support for Trump comes with a cost.

To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior.”

I agree with most of this and I wrote as much during the 2016 election season. I continue to believe that elite evangelical support for, and defense of, Trump will be destructive to our witness in the long run. I pray I am wrong, but the last few years have done little to dissuade me. I think evangelicalism would be healthier if more elites responded to Trump in this way.

The editorial veers into troubling territory when Galli says the only prudential decision is whether Trump should be removed by election or through a Senate trial. Removal of either kind, for Galli, is required for Christians. “That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”

For Galli, it seems, this is a test of evangelical purity. This thinking conflates our political decisions with our spiritual obligations. While the language is not so harsh, and the line is not so stark, it is similar to Graham and Metaxas arguing recently that opposition to Trump was “demonic.” For Galli, it seems, not just support for Trump, but a refusal to remove him, (which are two different things) manifests disloyalty to God.

The connection between morality and political leadership is complicated and messy, especially for voters. I understand the evangelical voters who looked at the 2016 election, held their noses, and cast votes for Trump. I understand current politicians who look at Trump’s conduct in office, even the so-called “perfect” phone call, and decide removal is not the right punishment for this particular offense. Galli’s rhetoric does not allow for these distinctions.