American fascism is a form of political religion. It is a social force based on faith and emotion and corrupt power more than a coherent ideology grounded in reason, facts and the truth. As such, fascism is antithetical to real democracy and normal politics.
Trumpism and the MAGA movement are American fascism’s largest and most popular denomination and sect. Donald Trump is the high priest and Dear Leader.
On Monday of the Easter Holy Week, Donald Trump shared a post on his Truth Social disinformation platform where he appeared to compare himself to Jesus Christ being tortured on the Cross. Why? Because Trump is finally facing some type of real accountability from the law for his decades-long obvious crime spree.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump continued to honor Holy Week by announcing that he is selling his own version of the Bible. Trump has publicly and repeatedly stated that he is a Christian. But by definition, his behavior is blasphemous and an example of idolatry. Of course, Trump does not worship God or Jesus Christ; he has shown himself to be a megalomaniac and malignant narcissist who only worships himself (and of course money and other forms of power). Trump basically views his MAGA followers and other “Christians” as useful idiots who are a source of narcissistic energy, money and other resources for him.
"One of America’s most enduring faiths isn’t Christianity, Islam or Judaism - it’s White supremacy."
On Friday (“Good Friday” in the Christian Holy Week), Trump wallowed in his love of violence by sharing an image of President Biden, bound and gagged in the back of a pickup truck. This is another threat of assassination and murder by Donald Trump against President Biden.
Trump then “celebrated” Easter Sunday by issuing the following paranoid, conspiratorial, lie, and threatening pronouncement on his Truth Social disinformation platform:
HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION, LIKE “DERANGED” JACK SMITH, WHO IS EVIL AND “SICK,” MRS. FANI “FAUNI” WADE, WHO SAID SHE HARDLY KNEW THE “SPECIAL” PROSECUTOR, ONLY TO FIND THAT HE SPENT YEARS “LOVING” HER, LONG BEFORE THE GEORGIA PERSECUTION OF PRESIDENT TRUMP BEGAN (AND THEREBY MAKING THE CASE AGAINST ME NULL, VOID, AND ILLEGAL!), AND LAZY ON VIOLENT CRIME ALVIN BRAGG WHO, WITH CROOKED JOE’S DOJ THUGS, UNFAIRLY WORKING IN THE D.A.’s OFFICE, ILLEGALLY INDICTED ME ON A CASE HE NEVER WANTED TO BRING AND VIRTUALLY ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS SAY IS A CASE THAT SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT, IS BREAKING THE LAW IN DOING SO (POMERANTZ!), WAS TURNED DOWN BY ALL OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES, AND IS NOT A CRIME. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
As the 2024 election approaches, and the pressure from the hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and legal expenses increases, and his criminal trials (finally) begin, Trump will only escalate his claims of godhood and divine status and power. Trump’s followers are desperate and eager to earn his blessings and will do almost anything – including violence – for the personal fascist lord and savior and cult leader.
In an attempt to better understand Trump’s Bibles and how they relate to the larger democracy crisis, I recently spoke to a range of experts.
These interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and length:
Federico Finchelstein is a professor of history at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York. His most recent book is "A Brief History of Fascist Lies."
The MAGA movement pushes its religiosity into the most bizarre form of greed. Trump's conflation of the Bible with doing business and his own comparisons with Jesus's suffering ideas are separate dimensions of the same phenomenon, namely the fascist tendency to make the leader a God-like figure who is not exempted from corrupted practices. In this case Trump desperately needs money. Hitler and Mussolini enriched themselves by writing and selling their writings but Trump's also wants to make money with sacred texts.
There is no question that Trumpism is an extreme political religion. Like the fascists, Trump not only makes alliances with religious actors but also appropriates Christianity for its own political and economic gains.
Dr. John Gartner, is a prominent psychologist and contributor to the bestselling book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President."
Of course, a malignant narcissist like Trump, physically sitting at the defendant’s table being prosecuted for his multiple crimes, would liken himself to the crucified Christ. It fits perfectly into both his personality disorder’s hypomanic grandiosity and its paranoid sense of grievance and persecution. And to complete the package, because malignant narcissists are also anti-social con men, he’s grifting off of Trump Bibles. It’s all perfectly in character and perfectly predictable. History is full of strongmen who declared themselves to be divine. It follows that anyone who does not bow down mindlessly in obeisance to them is evil, and must be purged, for society to be cleansed, to usher in the “Great Leap Forward” or “Thousand Year Reich.”
I’ve always found the image of Trump holding the Bible upside down to be profoundly meaningful and revealing. He’s the epitome of everything anti-Christian. Christ is reputed to have said: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” I don’t think anyone has accused Trump of displaying any of those traits even once in his 77 years on Earth.
Julie Ingersoll is a professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Florida. She teaches and writes about the Christian Right. She is the author of numerous books and articles including “Evangelical Christian Women: War Stories in the Gender Battles” and “Building God’s Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction."
Last week started with Trump embracing how his supporters identify him as a Christ figure in a way that other Christians see as out-and-out idolatry, Through Holy Week they amped up the Christian persecution narratives as a shield against accountability or the former President . As if that wasn’t enough, we then watched Trump hawking Bibles like they’re Trump steaks or tacky ballcaps. But before we collectively shake our heads in disbelief or disgust, it’s worth thinking about where these views come from and paying careful attention where they can go. There is a long history of Christians rhetorically identifying with Jesus' persecution —but the focus has become so pronounced that many use their own perceived level of “persecution” as a measure for the degree to which they can claim to be authentic Christians.
We need your help to stay independent
Of course, in a society dominated by Christianity—and increasingly dominated by their brand of Christianity, it’s hard to see actual persecution. But that’s when mythic narratives are most helpful. Facts be damned; Trump is the victim of “evil accusers.” Scholars who look at Religion and Violence point to the unique dangers of the ”cosmicization” of conflict. With mundane conflict, disagreement between individuals over material, earthly issues, compromise and resolution is possible. But once conflict is infused with a cosmic framework in which real live people are identified as forces of good or the forces of evil, literal representatives of God or Satan, resolution becomes impossible. Violence is made much more likely. This is dangerous language and we need to be prepared that no matter how the next few months unfold our freedom, our safety and our democracy are at risk.
Darrin Bell is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Candorville, and author of the graphic novel “The Talk." He is also a contributing cartoonist for the New Yorker.
There’s a reason why autocrats tend to portray themselves as messianic figures: religious faith doesn’t require logic, facts, or evidence, or compromise with those who are outside the faith. It only requires a belief that your view of the world is correct, that anyone who disagrees with your worldview is either unenlightened or purposely trying to lead you astray from the one true path, and that any opposition to your religious leaders are actually attacks upon your faith.
One of America’s most enduring faiths isn’t Christianity, Islam or Judaism - it’s White supremacy. Those who believe in that faith suspected they found their messiah when he came down that escalator in 2015 and proudly spewed bigotry about Mexican immigrants. Their faith in him grows in inverse proportion to the skyrocketing evidence of his criminality, his bigotry, his corruption, and his sociopathy. Trump’s many critics and prosecutors are just heretics trying to lead them astray. Donald Trump is cultivating that foolishness because that’s what aspiring dictators do. It’s the best way to stay out of prison while they’re lining their pockets and destroying their countries’ traditions and institutions in their pursuit of “absolute immunity” and absolute control.
André Gagné is a professor and the chair of Theological Studies at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. He is the author of "American Evangelicals for Trump: Dominion, Spiritual Warfare, and the End Times."
Trump has once again skillfully managed to compare himself to Jesus to bolster his supporters’ view that he has been “chosen by God,” and this during Holy Week which leads to Easter, which is celebrated by many Christians (Easter comes in early May this year for Orthodox Christians). The comparison to Jesus came from a Trump supporter who made a parallel between Trump’s legal troubles, seen as a form of persecution, with Jesus’ persecution and trial during Holy Week. The supporter’s message is then followed by a quote from Psalm 109:3-8 (from the New King James Version). Of course, the immediate context of Psalm 109 does not refer to Jesus (and even less so to Donald Trump!), it is rather a lament attributed to King David labeled against false accusers. The lament also contains an imprecatory prayer asking God to bring judgment on David’s oppressors. But for those familiar with the biblical text, Psalm 109:8 (“Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”) was reinterpreted in the New Testament, by the writer of the Book of Acts, and applied to one of the 12 apostles, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. What is therefore meant here is that Trump (and his supporter) sees those who persecute him as “Judases,” and that ultimately, Trump and his supporters believe that he will vindicate by God. The words “… and let another take his office” (Ps 109:8b) most likely meant for the Trump supporter that he prays God for Trump to replace Biden as president.
Among other things, the analogy between Trump and Jesus is completely off mark. Psalms of lament serve to highlight how righteous individuals fall prey to persecution, despite being good to others. This is what David writes and what happened to Jesus of Nazareth. Can this be said of Trump? Also, the person described in these verses says: “I give myself to prayer… they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” Can this also be said of Trump? A recent Pew survey noted that few Americans see Trump as religious, even if Republicans “think he stands up at least to some extent for people with their religious beliefs.”
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
It is ironic that Trump is now promoting a new “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bible. People can certainly be skeptical when it comes to Trump having ever read the Bible – despite him saying that he has many Bibles in his home. One can have many books without ever reading any of them! We remember when Trump was asked a few years ago to tell people what his favorite Bible verse was, and could not name one verse, but just said “I wouldn’t want to get into it. Because to me, that’s very personal… The Bible means a lot to me, but I don’t want to get into specifics.” And the time at Liberty University when Trump quoted from “two Corinthians” (those familiar with scriptural referencing know that it’s “Second Corinthians”). There is little evidence of biblical literacy on the part of Trump, and this new stunt will likely serve him through his financial problems.
David L. Altheide is the Regents' Professor Emeritus on the faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University and author of the new book "Gonzo Governance: The Media Logic of Donald Trump."
Social scientists have long studied how politicians and dictators couch their agendas in religious terms. Donald Trump is an entertainer, entrepreneur, propagandist, and cult figure. His latest attempt to make money by proclaiming that the United States is a Christian nation violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” Defendant Donald Trump’s legal bills and payment of massive fines leads him to curry the favor of religious zealots as he promotes Christian Nationalism. He needs money for his campaign, and he needs votes for president.
He is using the politics of fear to promote the lie that Christianity is under attack by our established institutions, including state and federal courts. Trump cajoles followers to salvage his financial soul and send him money because he, like Christ, is being persecuted. Trump stated: Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible.
Unlike organizations that give away Bibles, Trump’s company is selling “God Bless the USA Bible” for sixty bucks. The Trump Bible will include the Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, words to the song, God Bless the USA, and a likeness of Donald Trump. A similar deal was proposed in 2021 but was scrapped because of complaints by Christians.
There have been many attempts to market specialty Bibles, including for political purposes. For example, in 1970, President Eisenhower’s picture was featured in “Good News for Modern Man,” Dwight David Eisenhower Memorial Edition. But more is involved than mere money grubbing with religious documents. Trump is promoting Christian Nationalism by combining religious and political symbols. Notwithstanding that Donald Trump was incapable of discussing the Bible intelligently in several interviews, he has joined forces with those who proclaim that public life and religious commitment must be uniform. Christian religious leaders traditionally have opposed aligning sacred text with political tracts like the U. S. Constitution because this would suggest that both documents are equal. And this is what many Christians objected to just a few years ago. As the First Amendment implies, democracy can only work if citizens of varied religious and political views separate their private and personal religious preferences from public life and discourse.
Trump continues to promote Gonzo Governance by attacking established institutions, principles, and political practices. The former president advocates for a Christian nation and demeans the Bible by pandering to pay his legal bills. Indeed, many religious Americans may find scriptures in the Bible to dissuade them from following this crass appeal. Consider Second Timothy, 3: 2: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”
Shares