Christian Perspectives on Donald Trump’s Perceived Divine Mandate

During an election night address at a Florida convention center, with American flags displayed behind him and an enthusiastic audience present, Donald Trump stated: “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.” This assertion, that he was divinely chosen, constituted a prominent aspect of his electoral campaign. Even prior to the assassination attempt against him on 13 July in Butler, Pennsylvania, a significant number of Americans were already motivated by their religious beliefs to back the former, and now president-elect. Some interpreted the election through an apocalyptic lens, drawing comparisons between Trump and figures from the Bible. In the previous year, during an appearance on the Christian program FlashPoint, television evangelist Hank Kunneman characterized the situation as “a battle between good and evil,” further remarking: “There’s something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it’s called the anointing.” Jim Caviezel, known for his portrayal of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, humorously declared Trump to be “the new Moses.” Subsequently, in the period preceding the election, numerous supporters of Trump began to label him a “saviour.” This raises questions regarding the reasons behind such widespread perception of Trump, a figure not recognized for particularly strong religious devotion, as divinely appointed. Furthermore, it prompts consideration of the broader implications for Christianity in a nation experiencing a swift decrease in church attendance. Reverend Franklin Graham, a prominent American evangelist and son of the renowned preacher Billy Graham, is among those who believe in Trump’s divine selection. He expresses certainty that the president-elect was chosen by God for this specific mission. He recounts, “The bullet that went through his ear missed his brain by a millimetre, and his head turned just at the last second when the gun was fired.” He adds, “I believe that God turned his head and saved his life.” Concerns raised about Trump’s character, such as allegations of sexual misconduct, his purported affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, and the related hush-money trial, do not diminish Mr. Graham’s perspective. Mr. Graham states, “Remember when Jesus told the crowd, ‘Let the one without sin cast the first stone’ and that slowly, the entire audience began to disappear? All of us have sinned.” A contributing factor to why some Christians might overlook character issues stems from Trump’s fulfillment of a key pledge during his initial term: the appointment of anti-abortion justices to the US Supreme Court. Mr. Graham cites this as proof of the president-elect’s integrity. He asserts, “This is a big win for Christians, for evangelicals.” He further states, “We believe the president will defend religious freedom where the Democrats would not.” The appointment of Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel suggests a potential influence of faith on certain foreign policy decisions. American evangelicals, including Huckabee, are recognized as some of the nation’s most ardent proponents of Israel. A significant number of these individuals hold the conviction that Jewish people should inhabit the entirety of biblical Israel, encompassing the present-day occupied West Bank and Gaza, to accelerate events culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Donald Trump has previously mentioned a Presbyterian upbringing. However, notwithstanding the substantial Christian backing he received in the recent election, he did not exert significant effort in his latest campaign to persuade them of his personal religious affiliation. Robert Jones, founder and president of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), an organization that has extensively monitored religious trends in the US, observes: “I think he realised it was going to be a bit of a stretch to argue that he himself is a religious man, but instead he adopted a quid pro quo approach.” This strategy focused on demographic shifts and the declining attendance at religious services. Data from Pew Research Center indicates that in the early 1990s, approximately 90% of adults in the US identified as Christians; this percentage decreased to 64% earlier in the current decade, accompanied by a substantial rise in individuals who do not affiliate with any faith. Dr. Jones suggests that Trump effectively leveraged this trend. He explains Trump’s message as: “Trump’s message was: ‘I know you’re in decline, I know your numbers are waning. I know your children and grandchildren aren’t affiliated with your Churches anymore, but if you elect me, I’m going to restore power to the Christian Churches’.” Nevertheless, not all American Christians were persuaded. For certain individuals, their faith led them to form a distinctly contrary view of Trump. Over recent months, Reverend Monte Norwood has delivered a message markedly different from Franklin Graham’s from the pulpit of Bible Ways Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. He, personally, expressed disappointment with the outcome of the recent election. He states: “Trump has demeaned and debased just about anybody he could, from immigrants to minorities to women to those who are disabled.” He adds, “White conservative Republican Christianity that ignores character is just hypocritical.” Reverend Norwood has consistently opposed the prospect of a second Trump presidency, articulating his stance on social media and through activism aimed at boosting voter turnout, including assisting other black voters with registration and providing complimentary transportation to polling places. He identifies, “I am a Matthew chapter 25 kind of Christian – where Jesus said: ‘When I was hungry you fed me, when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.’” Research conducted by PRRI has examined historical voting patterns, considering not only religious practice and belief but also race, revealing a distinct, decades-long trend concerning political perspectives. Dr. Jones observes: “Almost without exception, white Christian groups have tended to vote Republican in presidential contests.” He continues, “Non-white Christian groups, non-Christian groups and religiously unaffiliated voters have tended to vote Democrat.” He further notes that this trend originated in the 1960s, a period when the Democratic party became linked with the civil rights movement, prompting white Christian groups to shift their allegiance to the Republican Party. Pre-election polling for the 2024 election, which assessed voter intentions, indicated that this pattern largely persisted. “From our polling, we have a Republican party that is 70% white and Christian, and a Democratic party that’s only a quarter white and Christian,” states Dr. Jones. A PRRI survey involving 5,027 adults revealed that white evangelical Protestant voters were the most robust supporters of Trump over Harris, with 72% favoring Trump compared to 13% for Harris. White Catholic voters also supported Trump, with 55% backing him and 34% aligning with Harris. White “mainline” non-evangelical Protestants exhibited a comparable division. In contrast, the survey indicated that 78% of black Protestants supported Harris, while only 9% backed Trump. The PRRI also reported that Harris’s supporters comprised Jewish-Americans, the religiously unaffiliated, and other non-Christian Americans. Regarding the actual election results, indications of deviations from established patterns emerged. Michigan’s results demonstrated a distinct shift among Muslim voters in the state towards the Republican Party, a development likely attributable to the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its conflict in Gaza. Furthermore, analysis indicates that a greater number of Latino Catholics voted for Trump than anticipated, a demographic that has historically leaned Democratic. Economic difficulties, including escalating inflation, are probable contributors to the attraction of “non-traditional” Republican voters to Trump. Concerning his appeal to traditionalist Christians, Dr. Jones contends that a religious element has been integral to the concept of “Making America Great Again,” embodying a pledge to reinstate the nation’s Christian identity. Dr. Jones posits: “His has been a campaign of grievance and loss and nostalgia,” adding, “and that includes nostalgia from a faith perspective.” Despite his political influence, Trump is unable to impede the ongoing demographic shifts in the US, which encompass a growing disengagement from religious faith. Although the proportion of individuals identifying as “atheist” in the US remains lower than in the majority of Western nations, the segment of the population describing themselves as “religiously unaffiliated” is expanding. This trend has a generational aspect, alongside established patterns where personal economic circumstances grant individuals increased autonomy to depart from community norms. However, other factors also contribute. A PRRI study indicates that one-third of American atheists or agnostics cited high-profile Church abuse scandals as their reason for disaffiliating from their childhood religion. In 2020, the Catholic Church published lists of living clergy members in the US who had faced abuse accusations, some involving child pornography and rape, totaling approximately 2,000 names. Two years later, the Southern Baptist Conference, a collective of US Protestant Churches, issued a list detailing hundreds of Church leaders accused of child abuse between 2000 and 2019. This illustrates the magnitude of the challenge confronting Trump. Nonetheless, Franklin Graham maintains an optimistic outlook. He states: “Church attendance is not going to go up next week because President Trump has been elected – but what I think it does mean is that legislation that we might have seen coming down the road that that would make it very difficult for people of faith will not come,” in reference to potential progressive legislation concerning issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. He affirms, “He will protect people of faith, he will protect religious freedoms in this country. I don’t talk about just Christian religious freedoms… [but] all people of faith.” Whether his predictions will prove accurate remains to be seen by Americans. While some celebrate the prospect of governance shaped by Christian values, others are undeniably apprehensive.