Winning control of the senate. And later in the show, nancy pelosi versus donald trump. The year is ending as it began with another faceoff between the two. This time over impeachment, and today in an interview the speaker of the house said she is never afraid, and she is rarely surprised. Well discuss her impeachment strategy and look at the biggest moments from the speaker this year. At the end of the show there will be a surprise appearance by rachel. Thats all im going to tell you right now. But we begin tonight with some blistering words that have clearly gotten under trumps skin. He should be removed. Thats how the evangelical magazine christianity today described Donald Trumps behavior in a rare and scathing editorial calling for his removal from office just one day after he became the third president in history to be impeached. Quote, that he should be removed we believe is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the creator of the ten commandments. Those were the words donald trump read from a publication that represents a core part of his base. 80 of white evangelicals voted for donald trump in 2016. To this day a similar percentage support him. So of course today donald trump attacked the magazine that was founded by the late reverend billy graham in a series of tweets falsely claiming, quote, a far left magazine or very progressive as some would call it which has been doing poorly christianity today knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a radical left nonbeliever who wants to take your religion and your guns than donald trump as your president. No president has done more for the evangelical community, and its not even close. Later the Trump Reelection Campaign announced in an email to supporters that donald trump will launch the evangelicals for Trump Coalition at an event in january. But what donald trump doesnt know is that he just gave a group that has stuck by him reason to think twice about his behavior. Donald trumps tweeting has amplified the words of a small publication that argued that his actions in coercing ukraines president to smear his political rival are, quote, profoundly immoral. More from the article. We believe the impeachment hearings have made it absolutely clear in a way the Mueller Investigation did not that President Trump has abused his authority for personal gain and betrayed his constitutional oath. The impeachment hearings have illuminated the president s moral deficiencies for all to see. None of the president s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character, end quote. The editorial concludes by posing an important question to evangelicals who have dismissed trumps behavior in exchange for policy wins like getting conservative judges. I continue. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off mr. Trumps words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we dont reverse course now will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come . Earlier today i spoke with mark galley, the editorinchief of christianity today who wrote the editorial. Here were going to go out in the world and tell people they should support the prolife cause because its the righteous and moral and good thing to do and at the same time its like were blinking or winking or looking the other way when our president is doing things that are not merely unconstitutional but blatantly immoral. How can we have any credibility on the issues we find so important . As the New York Times noted today, quote, the president s reaction was a sign of how critically important the white evangelical voting bloc is to his reelection. Reflected how he has reshaped the evangelical Political Movement in his own mold much as he has done with the Republican Party. Leading off our discussion tonight Michael Gerson and is syndicated columnist for the Washington Post. He was raised as an evangelical christian. Ben rhodes, he is an msnbc political analyst. And Zerlina Maxwell, also an msnbc political analyst. And zerlina, i did not know this about you but you grew up in a home in which your parents were pastors. Yes. Your reaction to this . Well, the entire presidency and really political phenomenon of donald trump has put christians to a test. Are they going to abide by whats actually in their bible and the things that donald trump reflects are not in their bible. Lying is immoral, cheating is immoral. And donald trump doesnt just lie and cheat. He cheats at all things. He cheats on his wife, cheats at golf, he cheats in elections. And i think it goes to the basic foundation of who he is as a person and what that represents. And its a moment in which christians have to say am i going to actually abide by the teachings of the jesus christ and, you know, be opposed to caging children, for example . One of the main teachings of the bible is to protect the children. And so for christians to standby and not be the ones camped out protesting the child separation policy, it really is an indictment on really what i think is hypocrisy. They just want the judges. They want to limit womens reproductive freedom, and thats all that matters, and thats a problem. Michael, talk to me about this this editorial. It was well written. It was wellconsidered. Donald trump calls it a left leaning progressive publication. Thats not entirely true, but mark galli was telling me they dont typically get accused of being lefties. But its not the most conservative of evangelical publications. Yeah, its not representative of a lot of evangelicalism in america. I think thats fair to say. It would be associated with what have been called cosmopolitan evangelicals. People in Christian College universities and ngos and other things like that. I think that most evangelicals are not reading christianity today or listening to this. They are getting their information about the world from fox news and from talk radio rather than from christian sources. So its not a surprise to some extent theyre not having christian views. This is the main source of moral formation of a lot of evangelicals in america, and thats a real serious problem. I want to read, ben, an excerpt from this. Its the last paragraph in the editorial in which it says its time to call a spade a spade. No matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, were playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think its time to push all our chip tuesday the center of the table, thats when the whole game will come crashing down. Itll crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the worlds understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern. Ben, the difference between todays polling on what evangelical christians, the support they have for donald trump and the exit polling that was shown on election day barely moved. Its a little bit less than it was on election day in 2016. But as of today according to npr, pbs, 75 of christians approve of donald trump, 22 disapprove. Yeah, clearly that support has been constant, ali. And look, this is why its important even if this is not a particularly conservative publication. Theres always a chance that a message from a part of your coalition is more likely to resonate with the rest of your coalition than a message from the opposition. I think whats important here, though, ali, is that trumps strategy is to obscure issues, to attack democrats, make process arguments, throw up so much sand that everybody is distracted from the core and moral issues as the editorial reminds us. And frankly the fact that what he did was wrong, it was immoral to try to pressure a country to investigate his opponents just as so much of his behavior every day is wrong. And i think americans, even trumps supporters intuitively understands that he lies, intuitively understands he engages in behavior that is immoral. And what trump depends upon is distracting from that reality by attacking democrats and by creating all these controversies. The more you get to the kind of core issues that are in that editorial, i think that is politically very important as an argument to make against trump that this is not about all the heat and noise but the fact we have a fundamentally unethical and immoral person in the office that is the most Important Office in the country. In fairness to christianity today there was a Washington Post article that mentions other times that christianity today has called out silence among christians in relation to donald trump and racism. But what do you think is it that made this the time to do that . Because to your point if there are going to be things there may be things nothing offends you about donald trump. But if you were to be offended by him, this month wouldnt be your first month. Right. I look back to charlottesville as a moment at least for me, i worked in the campaign in 2016 so i was opposed to donald trump going back to birtherism but in charlottesville that was a moment for the country to say wait, he just said the people that stood alongside the klan and nazis were very fine people. And we have a moral obligation as citizens to say whether or not were okay with a president who believes that those people are fine people or not. Because White Nationalism and the embrace of White Nationalism by this president is an existential threat to our national security. So its a moral issue, but its also a security issue. So i dont know if perhaps they see his abuse of power in this instance as more serious because it actually goes to the fundamental security of the country. But its it reeks of hypocrisy and its a little bit linked. Theres an interesting point and that is there may not be most of americas evangelicals or the ones not watching this show or reading christianity today, but there are some who are looking for a directional change than what they are getting from other leaders in and the evangelical community. Well, i see that around the country. I go to churches very conservative trump oriented churches, but there are always people often women who are skeptical of the president. I think this helps them feel less isolated, i think it can be very isolating your opposition to trump in these communities. It could appeal to some minds as well this is the case where this is the base of the president s base. And even small movements, small erosion in that base i think the president is deeply concerned about and should be because it would have large consequences in our politics. Ben rhodes, another oped tonight published by senator jeff flake not on this particular topic but speaking to other republicans and asking them why theyre doing what theyre doing particularly as it relates to the Upcoming Senate trial if there is one and the rules that democrats are asking republicans to engage in. Jeff flake writes my simple test for all of us, what if president barack obama had engaged in precisely the same behavior . I know the answer to that question with certainty and so do you. Whats he talking about . And so do i. Look, they were looking for something to go after obama to try to impeach obama the entire time they had a majority, republicans in the house, and they didnt find it. Look, michael was a speechwriter in the white house and so was i. If youre involved in political communication, what you know is the most pofwerful thing you can say is something that can cut through the noise that Everybody Knows to be true. So what jeff flake everybody know tuesday be true, this is hypocrisy, the republican would be ripping out the gates at the white house to get barack obama if he did anything like donald trump did. Just like that article cuts through the noise and says something Everybody Knows to be true, that trump lies, he looks out for his personal interests, hes mistreated women. I think this kind publication that doesnt get into the back and forth or distractions or whatever his House Republican defenders are throwing at people but just states plainly things that people intuitively know to be true, that voters know to be true, thats the kind of case i think that people not just the democratic candidate but americans concerned about the direction of this country under trump, thats the kind of case people are going to have to make not just in written pieces but around kitchen tables in this country and in congregations over this next year if we want to see a change. In this week we have seen some republicans who are antitrump starting to form a super pac working toward this is more than saying we dont like donald trump, actually supporting efforts to not have him reelected. Ive spoken to some of them, and they say that may mean supporting democrats in the upcoming reelection. Yeah, i think thats where a lot of republicans who dont like trump may be led. Theres not been a viable alternative to the president within his own party. I think thats a terrible shame. And so i think people may have to look outside of their party in order to find the kind of change thats necessary to get the president out of office. When you say in that party the complaint that i heard from so many of these people who are joining this effort is that theres no Party Outside of trump anymore. Hes been remarkably successful considering he had no part in the Republican Party before this, overtaking the apparatus of the party. Yeah, it goes back to the earlier issue. I think that these Coalition Partners within the Republican Party have been willing to make a compromise with an ethno nationalism that, you know, has left very few people disagreeing, and that that is going to be a source of shame for a long time. I think its going to hurt the party for generations in the view particularly of the young who look at the moral center and moral focus of the party and how thats been lost. I think youre going to have a huge generational problem here that republicans are going to have to address and appeal to. Michael gerson, ben rhodes, zerlina, thank you. Coming up next, Michael Moore on the impeachment of donald trump. What this weeks historic vote means for trumpism. And what it could all mean for Mitch Mcconnell. Could 2020 mean the end of his majority leader title . A new report out today shows better stakes for democrats taking back the senate. Stay with us. S taking back the senate stay with us meg there you are. Did you take a picture of the cake to put on our website . I mean i would have but im a commercial vehicle so i dont have hands. Or a camera. Or a website. Should we franchise . Is the market ready for that . Can we franchise . How do you do that . Meg oh meg we should do that thing where you put the business cards in the fishbowl and somebody wins something. Meg hi. Im here for. Im here for the evans wedding. Weve got the cake in the back, so, yeah. Meg thank you. Progressive knows Small Business makes big demands. Youre not gonna make it, youre not gonna make it ask her if we can do her next wedding too so well design the insurance solution that fits your business. On second thought, dont. Ask that. That fits your business. At chevy, were all about bringing families together. This time of year, thats really important. So were making it easier than ever to become part of our family. Man thats why our chevy employee discount is now available to everyone. The chevy price you pay is what we pay. Not a cent more. Family is important to us. And wed like you to be part of ours. So happy holidays. And welcome to the family. The chevy family get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. It doesnt really feel like were being impeached. I dont feel like im being impeached. It doesnt feel like impeachment. I just left President Trump. Hes mad as hell that they would do this to him. All right, no matter what donald trump says or does, no matter how the white house and his republican allies spin it, his presidency is now forever stained with the Scarlett Letter of impeachment. Now, donald trump knows that as is evident in his twitter outburst over impeachment. And now he wants to add a crucial defense line. A senate trial that will acquit him. But House Speaker nancy pelosi is holding the cards here. Shes getting under his skin by not immediately sending the impeachment articles over to the senate until Senate Democrats agree to the rules for the impeachment trial. And reaching that acquittal will hangover the president during the next two weeks as he consults with friends and supporters at his florida resort. And thats how our nation wraps up this massively consequential week. A historic moment that Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore didnt want to miss. Earlier on wednesday he wrote, quote, so i woke up this morning in new york city and i thought dang theyre impeaching trump today. So i dropped what i was doing, headed to amtric, hopped onboard pulling into d. C. Shortly. Dont know if ill get in, but heres for hoping. He made it on time. He witnessed the Impeachment Vote of President Trump. There he is, bottom left of your screen right in the front row of the house gallery. Joining me now Michael Moore. He has a new podcast called rumble with Michael Moore. You got there, had no ticket, didnt tell anybody you were coming. You get to congress, what happens . Like i said i woke up and were on the east coast and we have trains here. Im from motor city. Its really easy to get from here to d. C. Lets just go. So my sister and my producer and friend, we all got on the amtrak. We were there i dont