‘Bullets continued to fly as very brave Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and pounced on top of me for protection. There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I really felt that.’ Thus spoke Donald Trump to his followers, and the world, at the recent Republican Convention. He was recounting the moment of the assassination attempt a few days earlier at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump’s God is very selective in when and how they choose to act. A spectator at the rally, Corey Comperatore, died from a bullet, and two others, David Dutch and James Copenhaver were critically injured. Trump praised the actions of Comperatore, who died protecting his family. ‘He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets. He went right over the top of them and was hit. What a fine man he was.’
But Comperatore, Dutch and Copenhaver did not have God on their side. Thus, did God think Trump’s life was more valuable to continue than that of the man who died saving his family? Why did God not intervene in the life of the shooter Thomas Crooks, or even on that day, to stop him taking aim. Crooks would not be dead either.
A week later at his first rally after the shooting, Trump continued the theme: ‘[The other side] keep saying, He’s a threat to democracy. I’m saying, What the hell did I do for democracy? Last week, I took a bullet for democracy. I stand before you only by the grace of almighty God.’
Trump did not have God on his side. He had luck. It goes to the man’s narcissism to frame his luck in this way. To him, God chose him to live. Why? Because God could see in his life he was important. It’s the psychology of power. It’s ego as God.
Almost all of the nation’s presidents have been Christians, according to the Pew Research Centre, and many have been Episcopalians or Presbyterians, with most of the rest belonging to other prominent Protestant denominations’. Only Joe Biden and John F. Kennedy were Catholic. In 2015, Trump said, ‘People are so shocked when they find out I am Protestant. I am Presbyterian. And I go to church and I love God and I love my church.’ Five years later, a month out from the election against Biden, he said: ‘I was confirmed at a Presbyterian church as a child, I now consider myself to be a non-denominational Christian.’ Non-denominational Christian is a much wider voting bloc than merely Presbyterian.
Fifty years ago, Donald and his parents were part of the congregation of Marble Collegiate Church, which was part of the Reformed Church in America, once led by the Power of Positive Thinking guru, Norman Vincent Peale. If any, it seems Trump’s religious road veers towards whichever destination offers him the greatest prize. Biographer Michael D’Antonio (The Truth About Trump), has reportedly said, ‘Donald keeps his options open. He makes things mysterious and unclear so that he can say anything else at another time.’
'The winning party is in government because of the will of the people. But it’s hard not to feel something existential, something tectonically powerful, is at stake in this American election.'
And he is not afraid to don the cloth of a salesman as when he spruiked the God Bless the USA Bible. ‘All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book. I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again.’ It cost $59.99.
After the assassination attempt, Trump wrote on his social media channel: ‘It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will fear not, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness.’ The falling into almost biblical language is no mistake on his part. It is calculated. Defiant in the face of wickedness? It follows then that he sees his survival as a sign from God. I spared you. Onwards to victory chosen one.
Fight. Fight. Fight.
Trump’s sign to the world when he emerged from the scrum of security men was not a sign of the cross to the heavens. It was a pumped fist and the words: Fight. Fight. Fight. Of course, it may be that his core reaction from near death was defiance and retaliation. One wonders though if it had not happened before a crowd, would there have been the same reaction.
Elias Canetti, Nobel Laureate in Literature wrote in his groundbreaking work Crowds and Power (an insightful review is here) that ‘there is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown’. When a man or woman is the commander, such as a political or military leader, then the people who are massed together to listen and watch this person form a crowd, a movement, that sees its existence, its survival and future as being as one to that commander. They see a hand to touch. Canetti wrote: ‘The most important occurrence within the crowd is the discharge (Not in the sense of a gun, but more eruption). Before this the crowd does not actually exist; it is the discharge which creates it. This is the moment when all who belong to the crowd get rid of their differences and feel equal.’
Fear is the driver to all this. In America, Trump’s ace in the pocket to voters is fear of all things unknown. He hammers fear of immigrants, of the world that does not see the world as he sees it. Trumps’ three words have now become a mantra, as has his ear patch, silly as it looks to others, a symbol of oneness. History has shown that kindness and cruelty have been carried in the name of God.
By a coincidence of time’s arrow, this election year marks the 60th anniversary of the release of Bob Dylan’s song With God on Our Side. Dylan chronicles several points in history where wars and conquests were driven, in part, by the belief of God being on one or another’s side. ‘And the names of the heroes I was made to memorise/With guns in their hands and God on their side.’
God would, of course, be better used in charity and compassion to others. Paul Keating once said that when you change the government, you change the country. This cuts both ways in a democracy. The winning party is in government because of the will of the people. But it’s hard not to feel something existential, something tectonically powerful, is at stake in this American election.
If Trump wins then, indeed, the hammer has shaped the hand.
Warwick McFadyen is an award-winning journalist. He has won two Walkley Awards and four Quill Awards. He has published several books of poetry. The latest is 21+4 Poems. His prose and poems have also appeared in Quadrant, Overland and Dissent.
Main image: Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)