Devotees of Donald Trump have long believed he was chosen by God to save the United States. This belief has grown even stronger after the Republican presidential candidate narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, party members have quickly credited divine intervention for saving their leader's life after he was wounded in a shooting at his Pennsylvania rally.
Images of the wounded former president raising his fist defiantly with the American flag in the background have further strengthened his image among his supporters.
"Evil came for the man we admire and love so much," said the right-wing firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. "I thank God that his hand was on President Trump."
House Speaker Mike Johnson told a news channel that Trump's escape, with only a slight ear wound, was "a miraculous thing," while Senator Marco Rubio of Florida wrote on X that "God protected Trump."
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, currently serving a prison sentence for contempt of Congress, said "Trump wears the Armor of God."
This overlooks that one rally-goer, a volunteer firefighter, was killed while shielding his family, and two others were seriously wounded.
It also ignores that, until his entry into Republican politics, Trump showed a distaste for religion and even mocked believers, according to a former aide. Additionally, he boasted in one of his books about affairs with "beautiful, famous, successful, married" women and has been found liable by a civil court for sexual abuse.
Trump, who has said he was raised Presbyterian but now considers himself a "non-denominational Christian," has welcomed the attention, writing on Truth Social that "God alone prevented the unthinkable from happening."
For Natasha Lindstaedt, a political scientist at the University of Essex, this episode highlights the cult of personality that Trump and his inner circle have carefully built and reinforced over the years.
Some "personalist" leaders are dictators, while others are elected, but their goal is the same: "To get people to blindly obey them and be mystified by their superhuman qualities," she told AFP.
Trump casting himself as America's sole savior is nothing new, but surviving the assassination attempt has taken the rhetoric to Biblical levels, she added.
Consider, for instance, the meme circulating on conservative social media showing Jesus Christ placing his hands on the 78-year-old's shoulders.
Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who co-chairs the Republican National Committee, posted the image on her Instagram page with the caption "Fear not, for I am with you."
"I'm a Christian and a Catholic by faith," Jack Prendergast, a Republican delegate from New York, told AFP. Trump "had an angel sitting on his shoulder—the hand of God, in my opinion, moved his face aside."
Such hero worship benefits both the mythologized leader and his followers, said Natalie Koch, a political geographer at Syracuse University.
"By building up that cult and joining that and being part of that, they get a sense of community," she told AFP.
They also gain a platform to pursue their political interests, ranging from evangelicals advocating for a religious agenda to the ultra-wealthy seeking significant tax cuts, Koch added.
Despite criticism from liberal circles that Trump's faith is insincere, he has proven to be the "imperfect vessel" evangelicals hoped for, advancing their long-standing goals such as shifting the Supreme Court to a conservative majority and challenging national abortion rights.
Even Trump's Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden, has recently adopted some Trump-like rhetoric, telling ABC News that only "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to reconsider his re-election amid questions about his mental acuity.
"Personality cults pose significant risks to democracy," said Lindstaedt, "because they encourage blind obedience and discourage questioning authority figures."
In conjunction with the Supreme Court's recent rulings expanding presidential immunity, "the safeguards of democracy may not effectively protect the U.S. from whatever Trump intends to pursue if re-elected, as I believe will happen."
by Moises Avila with Issam Ahmed in Washington
Agence France-Presse
