In Late August 2015, before President Trump was even elected to his first term, journalist Bret Stephens wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “If by now you don’t find Donald Trump appalling, you’re appalling.” Now, via the New York Times, he’s walking back that harsh stance taken towards Trump voters. 

Stephens recently called the above quote “the worst line I ever wrote as a pundit.” He goes on to rightly acknowledge that “telling voters they are moral ignoramuses is a bad way of getting them to change their minds. However, Stephens doesn’t just think he made a political mistake. He thinks he made a moral mistake by viewing all Trump supporters as evil. While he regrets “almost nothing I said about the man [Donald Trump],” he notes that “the broad swipe at his [Trump’s] voters caricatured them and blinkered me."

Stephens acknowledged that not all Trump voters were the Satan-esque idiots he thought they were. He has become convicted that many Trump people felt “unprotected” and were sick of the establishment elites. Stephens notes that his previous attitude may have fanned the flames of divide in America for which he is regretful. 

It should be noted that Stephens is not coming out with a radical change in his political philosophy and vision. He still opposes Trump voters, but opposition can be done with or without honor. However, current Leftist orthodoxy won’t let Stephens repent quietly. 

Blaze Media has compiled a list of some of the nastiest and condemning comments directed as Stephens:

One said, “Bret Stephens is an a**hole and is trapped at the bottom of a well.” 

Another quipped, “Bret Stephens has a real case as the dumbest man in public life. What an absolute masterpiece of idiocy.” 

NYU professor Eric Klinenbuerg asked, "Is there going to be a column where the New York Times Opinion editors admit they were wrong about hiring Bret Stephens?"

While surely there are some anti-Trumpers who would appreciate Stephens’s conciliatory article, it seems that the divides are so deep, the apology is tantamount to apostasy. Hearing out the other side is tantamount to heresy. We must make sure this kind of behavior does not characterize us.

Mitchell D. Cochran is a biblical counselor and family life educator who also spends his free time being an amateur philosopher and theologian. He is pursuing his Th.D. through Kairos University.