Johnnie Moore, who’s worked closely with the White House on faith matters, has said President Donald Trump being impeached will only cause more turmoil for the United States.
The president was impeached on Wednesday by the House of Representatives over the deadly Capitol siege, and is due to undergo a trial in the Senate.
In a debate with Christian peace activist Shane Claiborne, hosted by Unbelievable?, Moore called the impeachment an “act of political theatre”.
“I think everyone is complicit in some way for the way politics is eroded in this in this country,” he said.
“Does the President have a role in that? Of course he has a role in that. But again, I think we're risking not asking all of ourselves, on the left and the right, across the spectrum of evangelical Christianity, and Democratic and Republican politics in the United States.
“One of the things I was heartened by, despite the tragedy [at the Capitol riots] is that democracy did hold in this country.
“I'm afraid that what's happening with impeachment is going to have the exact opposite effect.
“The next day, there probably could have been a nearly unanimous vote to censure the President of the United States.
“In fact, a simple majority vote of 51 votes in the Senate could have forbidden the Donald Trump from ever running for public office again. Instead, what some perceive as an act of political theatre, is being met with another act of political theatre.”
Claiborne, who said he was once arrested for protesting Mr Trump’s policies, believes the there must be consequences for the president’s rhetoric, which is thought to have sparked the riots.
“Donald Trump, before he was elected president, said ‘I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it’. There's been a pattern of being untouchable, above the law, getting away with anything before he was president during his presidency,” Claiborne said.
“I think Donald Trump should have been removed from office a long time ago. I'm not a Democrat, I'm a follower of Jesus. It's my love for Jesus that compels me to be so troubled by Donald Trump, both his policies and his rhetoric.
“I think any attempt to get Donald Trump out of the presidency is a good one. As one of my friend’s child said, we have to remember that God loves Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean God wants him to be president.”
Moore, who’s also the President of The Congress of Christian Leaders. argued that impeaching Mr Trump will not have a positive effect on Mr Biden’s forthcoming presidency and administration.
“Our president elect has said many times that his ambition is to unify the country and his ambition is to bring America together. And frankly, he's going to going to have to begin his administration with another political circus. That's not to diminish what happened [at the Capitol riots], but I think we have to take an objective point of view to disentangle the politics and the theatrics from the substance of the debate.”
It’s been reported that Mr Trump’s impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office in an extraordinary end to the defeated president’s tenure in the White House.
The trial timeline and schedule are largely set by Senate procedures and will start as soon as the House of Representatives delivers the article of impeachment. That could mean starting the trial at 1pm on Inauguration Day. The ceremony at the Capitol starts at noon.
Some senior Democrats have proposed holding back the article to give Mr Biden and Congress time to focus on his new administration’s priorities.
Mr Biden has said the Senate should be able to split its time and do both.
The impeachment trial will be the first for a president no longer in office.
To listen to the full debate between Johnnie Moore and Shane Claiborne click here.
It was also air at 6pm on Premier Christian Radio.
