Sunday was Easter for those who celebrate. And Donald Trump had his own message on Christianity’s holiest day, a shouty post about his political enemies destroying our country.
And then another message: “WORLD WAR III.” Nothing else. That’s it.
Such an uplifting message from the always devout and thoughtful Donald Trump, although it’s really just a dog whistle about his supposed persecution to his most loyal followers.
Some, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, compared him to Jesus in the run-up to Easter as he prepares, just like Jesus himself, to face felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up an affair with an adult film star, just after his third wife gave birth to their child. OK, maybe not just like Jesus.
Trump is doing his unique version of yelling “Holy crap!” while holed up in his South Florida mansion like the modern-day televangelist he is, crowing about his “billionaire” lifestyle while begging the faithful to send their last $47 to him at the storehouse, where it can be pressed down, shaken together into a T-shirt with a fake Trump mug shot on it and cash for Trump to pay his lawyers with.
An email from Trump's 2024 campaign was sent advertising a t-shirt with a fake mug shot of former President Trump, with the phrase "NOT GUILTY" below it.
— Axios (@axios) April 4, 2023
The shirt is free with a $47 contribution to the campaign. https://t.co/hb0j6uR6p9
He’s certainly got the original experts of televangelist grift as both his role models and in his pocket. Remember Jim Bakker?
One-half of Jim and Tammy Faye infamy, Jim served four years in prison for 24 counts of mail and wire fraud, which was uncovered when it was revealed that he was having an affair with a church secretary.
The parallels just write themselves. In 2019, Jim Bakker had a guest on his show shilling a Trump coin, reminiscent of those Trump “Help keep me out of jail” T-shirts.
For $45, Lance Wallnau and Jim Bakker will sell you a Trump/Cyrus coin that you can use as a "point of contact" between you and God as you pray for Trump's re-election in 2020. pic.twitter.com/EwKgGL7sNp
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) May 14, 2019
The following year, Bakker himself said that loving Donald Trump was a test for Christians to prove that they are saved.
In fact, Trump’s “I alone can fix it” prosperity gospel is directed squarely at their shared most loyal base: white evangelicals.
With their hostility toward modernity, women’s liberty and abortion — and their ardent worship of guns — Trump is also channeling religious cult leaders right down to his first 2024 campaign speech, delivered in Waco, Texas. That’s the site of the 1993 standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian apocalyptic doomsday cult that ended in the fiery death of 76 members of the sect, including children.
The 51-day standoff started when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms came to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, who claimed to be the second coming of Jesus, and retrieve illegal machine guns.
Under Koresh’s leadership, the sect had an arsenal of hundreds of firearms, including dozens of AK-47s and dozens more illegally modified to be fully automatic, like M-16s.
As for Donald Trump, he certainly had his cult leader rhetoric down for his Waco speech:
I say to you again tonight: I am your warrior. I am your justice. … I am your retribution; we will take care of it.
And if you think it’s a reach to link Donald Trump to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, the sect’s current leader told The New York Times, and I quote: “Donald Trump is the anointed of God. He is the battering ram that God is using to bring down the Deep State of Babylon.”
I mean, if the current cult leader loves Trump, where is the lie?
This is an excerpt from Monday’s episode of the “The ReidOut.” It has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
Joy-Ann Reid
Joy-Ann Reid is host of “The ReidOut” at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC. “The ReidOut” features one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers while addressing provocative political issues both inside and outside of the beltway.