Past and present leaders of the United States are well known for religious controversy and Donald Trump is no exception. On April 1, Paula White-Cain, Trump’s senior advisor to the White House Faith Office, stirred criticism through her comparison of the president’s life to the life of Jesus Christ.
After a session of prayer led by Evangelist Franklin Graham, White-Cain walked up to the podium and began by stating that Trump is the “greatest champion of faith that we’ve ever seen in a president” and that nobody has paid the price more than he has. This moment was in reference to the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. Through this reference, she stated that he had been “betrayed, arrested and falsely accused.”
Her speech then took a turn as she started to compare Trump’s situation to the life of Jesus. She stated that Trump and Jesus have lived a “familiar pattern,” by describing the three dreadful days of Jesus’s death, she reminded the audience that He rose again, relating to how Trump also rose up after being shot at. White-Cain then ended her speech by speaking directly to Trump, saying, “And I believe the Lord said to tell you this. Because of His victory, you will be victorious in all you put your hand to.”
While White-Cain might have found this sentiment to be inspiring for Holy Week, it ended up focusing more on the president than the actual reason for celebration — Jesus. It seemed more like an attempt to glorify Trump, rather than a call to focus on the humility and sacrifice Jesus embodied.
The White House originally posted the video of this on their website before they quickly deleted it due to its controversy.
Not too long after this event, Trump posted an AI-generated image of him healing a sick man on a hospital bed with light emanating from his hands on April 12, depicting him as a Christ-like figure. On the same day, Trump deleted the post and then followed with an attack on Pope Leo XIV on social media, claiming that Leo is “weak on crime” due to his peace-seeking stance with the war involving the US and Iran. Trump then stated that he thought he was portraying a doctor in the image, not Jesus.
Throughout this chain of events, there is one thing in common: the comparison of Trump to Christ, calling blasphemy into play. What exactly is blasphemy? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, blasphemy is the “act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God or something sacred.”
To many, including myself, this comparison is a form of blasphemy. Christians around the nation, many including conservative supporters of the president, are condemning these acts surrounding him. One instance of this includes a video posted by Brilyn Hollyhand, former chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council, stating, “This is gross blasphemy. Faith is not a prop.”
Is Trump using faith as a prop? While people don’t know if he truly is a Christian at heart or not, to many, his current actions do not reflect the teachings of the Bible and Jesus Christ. It seems that his heart posture is not in the right space, which means that he does not seem to be leading from a place of humility or love. While nobody knows the truth, there is a real possibility that he is using Christianity to gain a larger group of supporters, as 62% of adults in the United States identify as Christians, according to the Pew Research Center. This clearly is a large pool of people who have the potential to vote, and a candidate could use that to their advantage.
In the past, leadership in different countries often used religion to justify oppression. We can look back to 1930s Germany, when the Holocaust began. Many German citizens justified this atrocious time with misunderstandings of the New and Old Testaments and while something at that scale may not be happening in the US, it is important to identify small problems before they become pathways to larger issues. It is important for both Christians and non-Christians to be aware of how leaders can wrongly use religion to control people and eventually hurt them. Therefore, society must especially hold Trump accountable if we want to see our country and its people flourish.
While one may never know or understand Trump’s true spiritual lifestyle, it is important to stay updated on current news events concerning him. For followers of the Christian faith, we must continue to pray for his spiritual life — for God to open his eyes so that Trump may repent for his blasphemous and harmful actions. We must also use our religion for the good of all, reflecting the values of Jesus Christ. For the general population, let us hold him accountable so that we can make our country a better place, one step at a time.
