“Happy Holy Week!,” the former president wrote on social media, “Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible.”
Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible. @TheLeeGreenwood https://t.co/1KK5QgVK85 pic.twitter.com/XoCIeGDpAg
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 26, 2024
Last week, liberals had a field day lampooning Donald Trump for selling Bibles. The Independent noted, “Saturday night Live has set its sights on Donald Trump once again – this time over his ridiculous attempts to sell Bibles.
Days after late-night hosts skewered the former president for his unconvincing pivot to Bible salesmanship, the US sketch show lampooned him in a cold open during its latest episode, which was hosted by Ramy Youssef.”
According to Pew Research, in the 2020 general election, approximately one-fifth of all voters were white evangelicals, comprising a third of those who voted for Trump. Had it not been for their backing, Biden would have secured a victory with a margin exceeding 20 percentage points.
For 2024, writes The Washington Examiner, Trump isn’t taking any chances. He wants Christians on his side.
But although Trump grew his margin of victory with the demographic in 2020 against Biden, compared to four years earlier against then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the former president appears to be mindful of the group’s importance eight months before Election Day.
“Nov. 5 is going to be called something else. You know what it’s going to be called? Christian Visibility Day, when Christians turn out in numbers that nobody has ever seen before,” Trump told a crowd this week during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “Let’s call it Christian Visibility Day.”
White evangelicals are a key component of Trump’s coalition, according to Northeastern University political science Chairman Costas Panagopoulos, as the former president promises to establish a federal task force to counter what he describes as anti-Christian bias within the federal government, particularly within the FBI, and to restrict federal funding for public schools that promote sexual content to children.
“Trump’s rhetoric is trying to tap into their social identities as Christians and to reinforce their support for his candidacy by appealing to their in-group preferences as Christians and as Trump supporters,” Panagopoulos told the Washington Examiner.
Last week, the White House came under fire after the president signed an executive order declaring this year’s Easter Sunday to be “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
When pressed about the issue, the allegedly devout Catholic Biden denied that he had signed the order, leading many to wonder who in the White House is actually making decisions.