'Carnivalesque grift': Trump blasted for campaign's hijack of religion over Easter holiday

Over the past few months, Donald Trump has shared videos framing himself as a savior sent by God to defeat President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, elevating himself to a "near superhuman status as a force of destiny and divine retribution against his and the MAGA movement’s enemies," wrote Salon columnist Chauncey DeVega Monday.

Trump's embrace of the savior narrative that's been disseminated by so many of his most loyal evangelical followers led to the promotion of his own branded version of the Bible with “exclusive” content — a move that "anoints himself as a type of prophet, messiah, or Chosen One," of whom "there can be no compromise," DeVega writes.

DeVega spoke to a range of experts in an attempt to understand what he termed Trump's "Christofascism," one of whom was extremism expert and author Katherine Stewart, who pointed out that most people don't expect Trump to behave like a religious person so, as a result, they won't "hold him to account for his heresies or irreligious pronouncements, because they don’t truly believe he is religious anyway, and they don’t care."

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"So they have no interest or concern about whether Trump is blasphemous or not," she said.

"For a good number of those who lend their support to the Christian nationalist movement, professed faith in the literal word of God is little more than performative," she said, adding that for leaders of the "Christian nationalist" movement, "The politics comes first, and the religion is tailored to its needs like a cheap suit."

Also speaking to DeVega was the president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, Robert P. Jones, who said that Trump promoting his “God Bless the USA" Bible in the week before Easter turned the religious holiday into "an opportunistic carnivalesque grift."

Trump went on a social media post marathon on Easter Sunday, sending more than 70 messages, many of which had an Easter theme.

"Christian theology has a word to describe those who claim the attributes of Jesus for themselves and who treat sacred things with contempt and disrespect. It’s blasphemy," Jones said.

Denison University political scientist and author Paul Djupe agrees, telling DeVega that Christian Holy Week was a perfect time for Trump to "keep the persecution narrative fully stoked."

"This has been Trump’s play since running for president in 2015: appealing to Christians who feel out of power with a promise to restore them to their believed rightful place."

Read the full article over at Salon.