President Donald Trump revisited the "heaven" theme in a fundraising e-mail sent on Monday, August 25, telling supporters, "I want to try and get to Heaven. Last year I came millimeters from death when that bullet pierced through my skin. My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen! But I believe that God saved me for one reason: TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! I wasn't supposed to beat Crooked Hillary in 2016 — but I did."
Trump continued, "I wasn't supposed to secure the border & build the greatest economy in history — but I did. I certainly wasn't supposed to survive an assassin's bullet — but by the grace of the almighty God, I did. SO NOW, I have no other choice but to answer the Call to Duty, but I can't do it alone. Friend, you've been with me through everything."
Previously, Trump played up the "heaven" theme during an August August 19 appearance on Fox News, humorously telling the "Fox & Friends" host, "I want to try and get to heaven to heaven, if possible. I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole."
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Trump's "heaven" comments are being mocked and ridiculed by his detractors. But in an article published on August 28, Salon's Chauncey DeVega — himself a scathing critic — argues that the "heaven" messaging is "smart politics" on Trump's part.
"At first glance," DeVega explains, "Trump's expressions of doubt seemed out of character for a man who has consistently refused to show any vulnerability or admissions of infallibility. His comments were revealing — and intentional. Trump is playing the role of the humble sinner who wants to repent and find grace…. Since 2016, Trump has made his professed Christian faith and personal relationship with God a central feature of his public persona. Yet his behavior and policies — which are rooted in political sadism and a lust for unchecked power — tell a different story."
DeVega adds, "As the Atlantic's Adam Serwer famously warned, Trump's ideology and modus operandi are driven by how 'the cruelty is the point.'"
The Salon journalist stresses, however, that while Trump's "humble sinner" rhetoric plays well with his base, it is disingenuous light of his efforts to undermine U.S. democracy.
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"Trump's vision of a post-democracy America stands in stark opposition to the grace he claims to seek," DeVega warns. "His politics of vengeance and his desire to be the country's first dictator are antithetical to his goal of getting into heaven. Is such a thing even possible for Trump and people like him? One does not have to be religious to ponder that question."
According to DeVega, those who are mocking Trump's "heaven" comments aren't the audience for that messaging.
"Many on both the center and the left have been mocking Trump's supposed Christian values and public desire to get into heaven," DeVega stresses. "For them, his profession of faith is a transparent farce and a performance to win over the MAGA rubes and other members of the white right. But they are not his audience."
DeVega continues, "In reality, Trump's appeals to heaven and Christian salvation are smart politics. He is speaking directly to his most zealous supporters on the Christian right who feel alienated from mainstream American society and view secular society as the enemy."
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Chauncey DeVega's full column for Salon is available at this link.