Somehow we are still capable of surprise and even shock when it comes to President Donald Trump’s behavior, despite all he has done throughout his public life and throughout his time as the dominant figure in American politics. This tells us something about our psychology and about our expectations for the office of the president.
So while some people yawned when Trump posted on social media an image of himself as Jesus, apparently raising a man from the dead, many people were shocked, and some were appalled. Because enough of Trump’s allies told him that this wasn’t cute, and was in fact, blasphemous, he took down the post. He later claimed, implausibly, that he didn’t think it was portraying himself as Jesus, but was instead portraying himself as a Red Cross doctor.
In this regard, it really was a new thing. When was the last time he backtracked on something?
But the yawners have a point: Our politics have been headed in this direction for a while.
The tacky paintings, and more recently AI-created drawings, of Trump as some sort of religious leader have been ubiquitous since Trump took over the political scene in 2015.
One way to understand Jan. 6, 2021, is as a religious riot. I say that because I was there, covering it, in person.
Multiple Trump supporters I met near the White House noted that it was the Christian feast of the Epiphany and that they were seeking an epiphany of sorts from Trump. They thought he would reveal his proof that the election was stolen and that Trump had actually won.
Right outside the White House, I saw a Trump supporter carrying a cross, which like the True Cross, had a sign hung from it. But instead of “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” this sign read “Trump Won.”
As I walked with the crowd from the White House to the Capitol, I spoke to a handful of Trump supporters. Every one of them said they did not attend church, and more than one spoke of Trump in spiritual terms.
I wrote at the time, “David, an auto mechanic from Colorado, told me how pleased he was with Trump’s first term. It wasn’t about tax cuts or border walls, either. ‘He brought some pride back into the country. … No more. I feel pride. I feel like there’s something that was missing that’s now been found.’
“His talk was spiritual, so I asked David about faith and church. ‘I don’t go to church. But I am religious. I do read the Bible. I do my own studies, online and stuff. But really, since Trump came in, I really have felt a shift in the power I feel. It’s definitely more positive than it was before.’”
This didn’t start with the 2020 election, either. If you covered a Trump rally, you may have noticed it had a lot in common with a religious revival. Trump rallies in 2016 weren’t dark and brooding as some of the liberal media portrayed them. They were upbeat. There was instant camaraderie. For many people, it was a rare communal event infused with meaning.
If you’ve been following Trump for the past decade, you know that he sees himself, and many of his followers see him, as a messianic figure.
More common than Trump-as-Messiah, but maybe more harmful, is the twisting of Christianity to fit into Trump’s personal tastes.
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Erick Erickson wrote about this:
So Trump kind of wants to be worshipped, and he at least wants religion to be twisted to his likings, which helps explain his anger at Pope Leo XIV. Trump’s unhinged online rant at the Holy Father is hard to understand unless you consider that Trump has been led, by sycophants, to believe that Christianity ought to serve him, rather than the other way around.