The leader of The New Evangelicals has become a liberal Steven Crowder

Just like Crowder found it acceptable to churn out content with his marriage on the rocks, TNE leader Tim Whitaker is still pushing out content after his abusive behavior was exposed for all to see.

Tim Whitaker with Tripp Fuller (screenshot via YouTube)

Almost two years ago, right-wing influencer Steven Crowder came under well-deserved fire from all sides when Yashar Ali surfaced video of him from 2021 viciously berating his pregnant wife, Hilary, for not wanting to handle his dogs’ medicine. Ali released it after Crowder publicly announced their pending divorce despite Hilary pleading for him not to do so.

Exclusive: Video Reveals Steven Crowder Emotionally Abusing Wife. In Statement, Hilary Crowder's Family Says She Hid His Emotionally Abusive Behavior For Years

The video had even some of the most rock-ribbed conservatives putting Crowder on blast. And yet, in the face of all of this, Crowder continued churning out podcasts and videos as if nothing else had happened. That made a lot of people on all sides of the aisle want to shake him and ask, “What the hell are you doing?” This writer was one of them.

Seriously, folks. If Crowder were serious about getting help, churning out content would rank pretty low on the list of priorities. And considering that he holds himself out as a born-again Christian, churning out content shouldn’t even be on the list.

Well, it looks like we on the left have our own answer to Crowder—Tim Whitaker, founder and executive director of The New Evangelicals, a collective of moderate and progressive Christians of which I was a supporter until last month. However, I, along with quite a few others, walked out when it was apparent that TNE was willing to condone an obvious pattern of abusive behavior on Whitaker’s part.

In case you missed it, last month, we learned that Whitaker was under fire for a disturbing pattern of behavior towards TNE’s former creative director, Adele Mulford. While running late to a documentary shoot, Whitaker engaged in “rage driving”—something which put Mulford on edge since she is dwarfed by the 6-4 Whitaker. After all efforts to mend fences went nowhere, TNE called in GRACE in August. However, Mulford and another TNE contractor, Cherri Rodriguez, resigned in September.

GRACE finished its work in early March. However, the first anyone even heard about this came when Mulford teamed up with Rodriguez to release the report via a site called TNE Reckoning. Mulford was known as the “Reporting Victim,” or “RV,” in the report; Rodriguez was “Witness 1,” or “W1.” Its findings were unsparing—Whitaker, or “Individual 1,” had engaged in “behavioral misconduct” and demonstrated “a lack of self-control, controlling behaviors, and holding double standards.” GRACE recommended taking the focus off Whitaker and diversifying the board.

Both the board and Whitaker committed to implementing GRACE’s recommendations. As troubled as I was that we learned about this second-hand, it looked encouraging that TNE recognized that its rapid growth in a short time meant it was no longer just a startup. This needed to be addressed in a way that showed it was willing to hold itself to the same standards it held others. I was concerned, though, that Whitaker was churning out videos and shorts as if nothing happened—not exactly a posture consistent with his initial promise to “embrace repentance.”

Just days after the report came out, Rick Pidcock of Baptist News Global revealed that within hours of posting his write-up on the investigation, Whitaker had angrily called him and claimed that article was shot through with “factual errors”—without revealing what said errors were. As disturbing as that was in and of itself, Pidcock discovered no fewer than five other times where Whitaker called someone shortly after a comment was posted on Facebook and ranted about supposed factual errors while downplaying his behavior. The board did absolutely nothing—even though any organization worth its salt would have fired Whitaker on the spot. When it was apparent TNE’s board would not act, I decided I could not in good conscience remain there.

Any doubt that I made the right decision was erased not long after I reached out to Mulford and Rodriguez to offer my support. It was the only honorable course in my mind. After all, if I couldn’t fight from the inside to ensure that there wasn’t a next time for what happened to Mulford, the least I could do was lift them up.

A little over a week after they released the report, Mulford and Rodriguez announced they were publicly stepping back from publicly holding TNE to account due to the emotional load they had experienced in a short time.

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In the face of all of this, Whitaker seems to be acting as if nothing happened. He’s been cranking out videos like no tomorrow. For instance, TNE has been joining the outcry against the appalling treatment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was wrongfully deported back there even though he was granted what amounted to a permanent parole.

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I look at videos like this and shake my head. It reminds me of how many Republicans have broken ranks to support Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. This includes some rock-ribbed conservatives like Joe Walsh, Dick and Liz Cheney, Bill Kristol, Alberto Gonzales, David French, and Jeff Flake. Even if they may agree with some of Trump’s policies, his character and temperament made supporting him a nonstarter. It’s no different here. As much as I may agree with TNE’s message, the messenger is unworthy of support.

How can TNE even think about pushing content when Mulford and Rodriguez have revealed they are emotionally broken? Or when we know Whitaker has no qualms about bullying journalists in a way that would do Trump proud? Add it up, and it’s clear not just beyond reasonable doubt, but ALL doubt, that there is no defensible reason for TNE to be pushing out anything with Whitaker in any role at this point. In my book, it’s no different from Crowder churning out right-wing red meat when his marriage was on life support.

This isn’t to say that TNE hasn’t faced any accountability at all. On April 1, Pidcock reported that Christian publisher William B. Eerdmans Publishing had torn up its book deal with TNE. Eerdmans was slated to publish a book by Whitaker later this year, but saw enough in the GRACE report that it decided to walk away.

Earlier, Sons of Patriarchy, a podcast turning the hot lights on Christofascist pastor Doug Wilson, deleted an episode featuring Whitaker, “The New Evangelical Messiah,” that had gone live only a week before the GRACE report dropped. Host Peter Bell took to Twitter and Facebook to say that he hadn’t even heard about the investigation until Mulford and Rodriguez released it, even though he and Whitaker had been in touch since October. However, he realized within half an hour of perusing the report that there was no defensible reason to platform him.

If it took Bell almost no time at all in today’s climate to come to this conclusion, how did TNE’s board not do the same? This move, combined with the loss of the book deal, amounted to warnings in capital letters that Whitaker had crossed a bright line. Learning about this led me to wonder how long I could have held to my original plan to demand accountability from the inside.

It didn’t have to end this way. Any doubt that this could have had a better ending was put to rest when Rodriguez shared an email she and Mulford received from Bruce Johnson, then a member of the TNE board, shortly after she and Mulford resigned. Johnson revealed that as soon as Mulford and Rodriguez filed a formal grievance about Whitaker’s behavior with Mulford, he “pushed hard” for an independent investigation, believing it was necessary to show that TNE had to put action behind its talk about finding “a better path forward in faith.” Johnson has since disappeared from the list of board members; it’s not clear whether he left on his own.

Clearly, Johnson believed that TNE needed to meet the moment, and how it did so mattered. Mulford and Rodriguez are of the same mind; indeed, Rodriguez tells me that if TNE’s board had more members like Johnson, it’s very likely she and Mulford would still be on the payroll. I know that if TNE had met the moment in the right way, it’s very likely I would still be there as well.

As it stands now, the board doesn’t appear to have the guts to realize Whitaker has no business churning out content—and for that matter, being TNE’s leader at all. It may not quite be like the situation with Crowder, who by all accounts has surrounded himself with “yes men” who were probably echoing a number of Twitter comments saying that Hilary was the aggressor, not him. But it’s no less disturbing.

In the short time since I left TNE, I have often found myself missing the community I built there in a short time—including the significant number of people from my old stomping grounds in Charlotte, as well as in my new abode in West Michigan. Indeed, before the report dropped, I was trying to figure out how to organize a meetup of West Michigan TNErs.

But I got a reminder of why I had to sacrifice that community, as much as it hurt. It came from a post on Threads by Danielle Strickland, who helped expose disgraced Canadian megachurch pastor Bruxy Cavey’s years-long history of clergy sexual abuse.

When I saw this, it was a reminder of why I couldn’t stay in TNE as long as Whitaker was leading it. When the board failed to respond to his berating of Pidcock and attempts to influence others, it was obvious that it either could not or would not take meaningful steps to ensure there wasn’t a next time for what happened with Mulford. If I was disgusted with the way Crowder treated Hilary while even appearing to be stand with TNE in the face of a clear pattern of abusive behavior on Whitaker’s part, I would be blinded by partisanship. The only option was to stand with Mulford and Rodriguez in hopes of ensuring that TNE faces real accountability. Otherwise, it’s in real danger of losing its way.