{"id":130827,"date":"2025-08-19T09:39:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/19\/is-donald-trump-anointed-by-god\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:39:24","slug":"is-donald-trump-anointed-by-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/19\/is-donald-trump-anointed-by-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Donald Trump Anointed By God?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many evangelical Christians insist that\u00a0God anointed<\/a>\u00a0Donald Trump to save America.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little hard to write \u2014 let alone believe \u2014 those words, but that\u2019s what some evangelicals say.<\/p>\n

What, you might ask, is the argument in favor of Trump being God\u2019s messenger?<\/p>\n

First, last July, an assassin took aim at Trump and missed.\u00a0Evangelicals say that you can almost sense God\u2019s hand at work.<\/p>\n

Of course assassins also tried, but failed, to kill a bunch of other presidents.\u00a0Richard Lawrence, for example, tried to shoot\u00a0Andrew Jackson<\/a>\u00a0at close range with two pistols.\u00a0Both misfired.\u00a0Jackson fought back with his cane, and bystanders subdued Lawrence.<\/p>\n

Now that\u2019s a miracle!\u00a0Two pistols, and they\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0misfired? Surely Jackson was anointed by God, no?<\/p>\n

Or, in 1864, a\u00a0bullet passed through<\/a>\u00a0Abraham Lincoln\u2019s top hat during a late-night ride in Washington, D.C.\u00a0That must count as an attempted assassination, even if it was later overshadowed by John Wilkes Booth\u2019s successful effort in 1865.\u00a0Lincoln pursued a noble cause and actually held the country together.\u00a0Anointed, or no?<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m just getting warmed up here.\u00a0A would-be assassin shot\u00a0Teddy Roosevelt<\/a>\u00a0in the chest in Milwaukee in 1912.\u00a0The bullet was slowed by a folded speech and an eyeglass case in his pocket before it entered his chest.\u00a0Roosevelt finished giving his 84-minute speech before seeking medical attention and surviving the attempt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He finished giving his speech after having been shot?\u00a0I can feel God\u2019s hand at work.<\/p>\n

Attempted assassins also went after FDR, and Truman, and Ford, and Reagan.\u00a0Were all those presidents anointed?\u00a0Some?\u00a0Just one?\u00a0If just one, which one, and how do we distinguish between the one who survived by the grace of God and the others who merely had good luck?<\/p>\n

Can we agree that Trump having survived an assassination attempt is not proof that he was anointed by God?<\/p>\n

Evangelicals go on to say that God sometimes uses imperfect messengers as vessels to pursue his divine purposes.\u00a0King David<\/a>, for example, had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba and later murdered her husband, but God chose David to lead the nation of Israel and to write scripture.\u00a0And\u00a0Moses<\/a>\u00a0killed a man and later disobeyed the Lord\u2019s directive, but God chose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.<\/p>\n

I grant you that Donald Trump is an imperfect messenger.\u00a0Criminal convictions, multiple other criminal indictments, civil liability for business fraud and sexual assault, multiple accusations of sexual misconduct \u2014 stop, you\u2019ve convinced me!\u00a0Trump\u2019s imperfect.<\/p>\n

But how much imperfection are we looking for?\u00a0If we need a lot of imperfection, why weren\u2019t Attila the Hun, or Genghis Khan, or Vlad the Impaler messengers of God?\u00a0Or, if we need slightly less imperfection, how about Lincoln?\u00a0He was an imperfect person, as are we all, and he survived that assassination attempt.\u00a0Was he anointed by God?\u00a0(Or maybe Lincoln was, and Trump was, too, and there are a few others that evangelicals can identify for us.\u00a0If so, speak up, evangelicals!\u00a0We\u2019re all ears.)<\/p>\n

Lastly, evangelicals insist that Trump is a strong man who can defend Christian values against threats of secularism or liberal policies.\u00a0To me, this sounds an awful lot like political beliefs wearing a religious disguise, but what do I know?\u00a0Moreover, if you\u2019re an evangelical Christian, you might think that Christian values include things like loving your neighbor, humility, and mercy.\u00a0Evangelicals who hold those silly values might think that it wasn\u2019t God, but rather the guy who inhabits the other place, who anointed Trump.<\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s pretty easy to use the justification that God anointed a person to forgive essentially everything that a person has ever said or done in his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

How long will it take, do you suppose, for evangelicals to apologize for having spouted this nonsense?<\/p>\n

An eternity, perhaps?<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Is Donald Trump Anointed By God?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many evangelical Christians insist that\u00a0God anointed<\/a>\u00a0Donald Trump to save America.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a little hard to write \u2014 let alone believe \u2014 those words, but that\u2019s what some evangelicals say.<\/p>\n

What, you might ask, is the argument in favor of Trump being God\u2019s messenger?<\/p>\n

First, last July, an assassin took aim at Trump and missed.\u00a0Evangelicals say that you can almost sense God\u2019s hand at work.<\/p>\n

Of course assassins also tried, but failed, to kill a bunch of other presidents.\u00a0Richard Lawrence, for example, tried to shoot\u00a0Andrew Jackson<\/a>\u00a0at close range with two pistols.\u00a0Both misfired.\u00a0Jackson fought back with his cane, and bystanders subdued Lawrence.<\/p>\n

Now that\u2019s a miracle!\u00a0Two pistols, and they\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0misfired? Surely Jackson was anointed by God, no?<\/p>\n

Or, in 1864, a\u00a0bullet passed through<\/a>\u00a0Abraham Lincoln\u2019s top hat during a late-night ride in Washington, D.C.\u00a0That must count as an attempted assassination, even if it was later overshadowed by John Wilkes Booth\u2019s successful effort in 1865.\u00a0Lincoln pursued a noble cause and actually held the country together.\u00a0Anointed, or no?<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m just getting warmed up here.\u00a0A would-be assassin shot\u00a0Teddy Roosevelt<\/a>\u00a0in the chest in Milwaukee in 1912.\u00a0The bullet was slowed by a folded speech and an eyeglass case in his pocket before it entered his chest.\u00a0Roosevelt finished giving his 84-minute speech before seeking medical attention and surviving the attempt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He finished giving his speech after having been shot?\u00a0I can feel God\u2019s hand at work.<\/p>\n

Attempted assassins also went after FDR, and Truman, and Ford, and Reagan.\u00a0Were all those presidents anointed?\u00a0Some?\u00a0Just one?\u00a0If just one, which one, and how do we distinguish between the one who survived by the grace of God and the others who merely had good luck?<\/p>\n

Can we agree that Trump having survived an assassination attempt is not proof that he was anointed by God?<\/p>\n

Evangelicals go on to say that God sometimes uses imperfect messengers as vessels to pursue his divine purposes.\u00a0King David<\/a>, for example, had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba and later murdered her husband, but God chose David to lead the nation of Israel and to write scripture.\u00a0And\u00a0Moses<\/a>\u00a0killed a man and later disobeyed the Lord\u2019s directive, but God chose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.<\/p>\n

I grant you that Donald Trump is an imperfect messenger.\u00a0Criminal convictions, multiple other criminal indictments, civil liability for business fraud and sexual assault, multiple accusations of sexual misconduct \u2014 stop, you\u2019ve convinced me!\u00a0Trump\u2019s imperfect.<\/p>\n

But how much imperfection are we looking for?\u00a0If we need a lot of imperfection, why weren\u2019t Attila the Hun, or Genghis Khan, or Vlad the Impaler messengers of God?\u00a0Or, if we need slightly less imperfection, how about Lincoln?\u00a0He was an imperfect person, as are we all, and he survived that assassination attempt.\u00a0Was he anointed by God?\u00a0(Or maybe Lincoln was, and Trump was, too, and there are a few others that evangelicals can identify for us.\u00a0If so, speak up, evangelicals!\u00a0We\u2019re all ears.)<\/p>\n

Lastly, evangelicals insist that Trump is a strong man who can defend Christian values against threats of secularism or liberal policies.\u00a0To me, this sounds an awful lot like political beliefs wearing a religious disguise, but what do I know?\u00a0Moreover, if you\u2019re an evangelical Christian, you might think that Christian values include things like loving your neighbor, humility, and mercy.\u00a0Evangelicals who hold those silly values might think that it wasn\u2019t God, but rather the guy who inhabits the other place, who anointed Trump.<\/p>\n

I guess it\u2019s pretty easy to use the justification that God anointed a person to forgive essentially everything that a person has ever said or done in his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

How long will it take, do you suppose, for evangelicals to apologize for having spouted this nonsense?<\/p>\n

An eternity, perhaps?<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Is Donald Trump Anointed By God?<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many evangelical Christians insist that\u00a0God anointed\u00a0Donald Trump to save America. It\u2019s a little hard to write \u2014 let alone believe \u2014 those words, but that\u2019s what some evangelicals say. What, you might ask, is the argument in favor of Trump being God\u2019s messenger? First, last July, an assassin took aim at Trump and missed.\u00a0Evangelicals say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Trump-kr8hS4.jpg?fit=634%2C634&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}