Trump positions himself as the savior of Christianity in America.
Not before have we seen Trump so aggressively stage himself as God´s chosen mouthpiece. Whether it works, time will tell, writes Desiree Ohrbeck. File photo: Brendan Smialowski
He has always had a presence on stage similar to that of a television evangelist when spewing his one-liners and talking gibberish. Enjoying a cult like status with his followers, it should not have been a surprise that his next move was to plea to his loyal followers for their money. This week Trump announced that we must buy a Bible. For the not so soubtle sum of 60 dollars, you can acquire a God Bless the USA Bible. In addition, you you also get the American Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, as wellas an easy to read font. The whole thing has a leather cover.
In the US, church and state are separated, but according to Trump, religion and Christianity are under severe attack.
At his rallies, Trump plays his own version of the US national anthem called God Bless the USA. Furthermore, he is known to play a version of The Star Spangled Banner sung by J6 Choir, made up of convicts from the January 6 insurrection in 2021.
Actually, Trump´s stunt is quite brilliant: He gets to polish his ever-growing ego, and the white part of the ultra -right-wing Christians is invited to have a home in a party that has been in a severe identity crisis for several years.
If you dig deeper, not all evangelicals are supporters of Trump. Black evangelicals are outright against him, and that’s understandable if you know Trump and his organization’s racist practices in renting to African Americans in New York and his disparaging statements about pretty much anything that isn’t of the same color and gender as him.
Trump is great at staging and a master of branding. He sees where there is a need – and fills it, all the while achieving financial gain for himself and his family.
The white evangelicals in the United States have supported Trump since 2016, but it is something new that Trump so aggressively stages himself as God’s chosen mouthpiece. Time will tell if it works. Virtually everyone knows Trump’s unchristian behavior and circumvention of numerous laws, not least tax laws and discrimination laws, not to mention bribery cases, sexual assaults and adultery with porn stars.
In the United States, the population is divided over this. Some believe that Trump is blasphemous and enriching himself, others that the American people will not buy into this. Finally, there are those who announce on CNN that they think Trump is a representative of Jesus Christ. As for myself, I wonder why I am still able to be surprised by Trump’s stunts.
Er Trump den nye messias?
Donald Trump iscenesætter sig selv som kristne evangelisters bannerfører.
Danish-American Eyes on Society 