An assassination attempt … the presumptive nominee of a major political party calling it quits mid-campaign … an intensely disliked vice president being handed the top spot without a contest … rumors of plots and accusations of lies – has it ever been this bad before? Historian David Barton of WallBuilders says, yes, we've been here before.
"This is not a new thing for America, by a long shot," he tells AFN, "but it's a new thing for this generation. And as poorly as we teach history nowadays, it probably seems like a first for a lot of people."
Barton cites a couple of examples. The United States was so divided in 1861 that it went to war, lost about 750,000 men, and suffered through a presidential assassination. In early 1968, President Lyndon Baines Johnson quit his reelection bid as the country was tearing itself apart over the Vietnam War.
What's different about this time around, Barton explains, is that more than ever, the nation is separated from God and the country's Christian heritage.
"The difference now is that we don't have the same recognition of God, nationally, that we used to have back then," he shares. "Nobody debated whether God was real [or] alive, whether we had moral standards, whether God blessed a nation that did right."
The Christian historian also points out this is the first such national crisis in the 24/7 information age.
"All these news reports that they don't think Biden's gonna live through the day; and then suddenly, now we have news reports Biden's showing up at public events," he laments. "So, it's such contradictory news right now – from both sides, each side kind of imposing what they wish things were into the news reporting."
Barton predicts that while politically speaking there's still a long way to go between now and November, the associated trauma will affect the elections.
"Things arise, and they fall so quickly that it's hard to have anything other than impressions – and I think that's what the election will be decided on," he concludes.
Come November, he says, voters will rely on their quickly formed impressions of what happened over the previous several months – and while they won't remember specifics, they will just remember they didn't like it and will vote accordingly.
