Watch Ari Melber prove how once-vocal 'moral majority' conservatives are silent with Trump in the White House
If you lived during the 1990s and ever switched on a television, you probably remember former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and televangelist Pat Robertson denouncing swearing and railing against what they viewed as a culture shaped by decaying morals and values.
Fast forward to today, and many of the "moral majority" conservatives who used to warn that curse words were a "threat to our national values" are now singing a very different tune, MSNBC's Ari Melber said Monday night. In the wake of President Trump reportedly referring to Haiti, El Salvador, and unnamed African countries as "shitholes," Gingrich, who once called on corporations to stop doing business with radio stations that played rap music, has been silent, and so has former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who in 2016 said it was "unprofessional" and "just trashy" for people to drop F-bombs.
When you watch the clips Melber provides, the hypocrisy seems pretty blatant — former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is seen cheering and taking credit for Pepsi dropping profanity-using spokesman Ludacris in 2002, but he wasn't afraid to cozy up to longtime friend and noted swearer Trump when he still had a television show to put him on. The same goes for Ralph Reed, a conservative political activist and onetime director of the Christian Coalition; he declared in the 1990s that "character matters" and "American people ... care about the character of our leaders," but after the Access Hollywood tape featuring Trump bragging about grabbing women leaked in 2016, Reed defended him by saying it was a "10-year-old tape of a private conversation" that "ranks pretty low" on evangelicals' "hierarchy of concerns." "This isn't a story where the emperor has no clothes," Melber said. "The rest of the royal court has been exposed and it's not pretty." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - February 22, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - bricking it, I can buy myself flowers, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 exclusive cartoons about Trump and Putin negotiating peace
Cartoons Artists take on alternative timelines, missing participants, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The AI arms race
Talking Point The fixation on AI-powered economic growth risks drowning out concerns around the technology which have yet to be resolved
By The Week UK Published
-
Mitch McConnell won't seek reelection
Speed Read The longest-serving Senate party leader is retiring
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump reportedly wants to take over US Postal Service
Speed Read President Trump is making plans to disband the leadership of USPS and absorb the agency into his administration
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricing
Speed Read The MTA quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the move
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firings
Speed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talks
Speed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security files
Speed Read If cleared, the Department of Government Efficiency would have access to tax returns, bank records and other highly personal information about most Americans
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretary
Speed Read The noted vaccine skeptic is now in charge of America's massive public health system
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump lays out plans for broad 'reciprocal' tariffs
Speed Read Tariffs imposed on countries that are deemed to be treating the US unfairly could ignite a global trade war and worsen American inflation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published