A Catholic priest told CNN that he takes issue with President Donald Trump's claim that God saved him from an assassin's bullet so he could help "make America great again."
Father Edward Beck, chaplain at Manhattan University and CNN contributor on religious and spiritual matters, told host Kate Bolduan on Tuesday that Trump's inaugural comments on a day that happened to coincide with Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, amounted to "hubris."
Bolduan played a clip of Trump saying Monday, "Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again."
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Beck began, "Well, I think the theology is problematic. So, did God not save MLK Jr.? I mean, a prophet, who is speaking about a vision for the country that we still revere to this day? Why was he killed and why was this president saved? So, does God have favorites? Is God partisan? What makes you think that that was God's intervention, other than hubris, which is condemned in the scripture and it lacks humility, and so it's not my theology. It's not the theology of the Judeo-Christian tradition that we have a kind of God who picks and chooses who he will save."
Evangelical Christians have long supported Trump's presidential aspirations, with many believing he is, in fact, "anointed by God" to save America. They justify Trump's past as an adulterer and convicted felon by claiming that God has used "imperfect individuals" for great things throughout history, such as King David and King Solomon.
Trump received widespread criticism for failing to place his left hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office Monday, as first lady Melania Trump stood by holding two Bibles for the purpose.
The president is expected to spend Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral for the national prayer service.
