'Encounters with death have strengthened me'
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Donald Trump speaks a lot about God these days, attributing his very existence – as God-fearing men and women have always done – to Him.
On Wednesday, at a huge rally on Long Island, New York – Trump's first since the second assassination attempt against him on Sunday – the former president was full of life, and on fire.
"So, as you know, three days ago, there was yet another assassination attempt on my life," he began. "It was the second one in eight weeks by a violent radical left mobster."
"And God has now spared my life – it must have been God – not once, but twice," he told the cheering throng. "These encounters with death have not broken my will. They have really given me a much bigger and stronger mission. They've only hardened my resolve to use my time on Earth to make America great again for all Americans."
Trump didn't merely talk about God – he put God's commandment to love others into action. Before the rally he made time to visit backstage with an eight-year-old boy named Liam suffering from a rare brain disorder and growth hormone deficiency. Trump gave him a personally-signed birthday card, and gifted him with a birthday present afterward.
GOD AND TRUMP AT THE RNC
God figured prominently in Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on July 18, just five days after the bullet fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks missed killing him by a millimeter.
Trump said, as US Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and surrounded him for protection, he felt "very safe, because I had God on my side."
"There was blood pouring everywhere and yet in a certain way, I felt very safe, because I had God on my side. I felt that."
"If the events of last Saturday make anything clear," he added, referring to the assassination attempt, "it is that every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God. We have to make the most of every day for the people and for the country that we love."
"The attacker in Pennsylvania wanted to stop our movement, but the truth is, the movement has never been about me," he continued. "It has always been about you. It's your movement. It's the biggest movement in the history of our country by far. It can't be stopped. It can't be stopped. It has always been about the hardworking, patriotic citizens of America."
"I'm not supposed to be here tonight. Not supposed to be here. ... And I'll tell you. I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God," he declared.
Trump ended the 90-minute speech – the longest acceptance speech in convention history – asking God to bless the attendees, the state of Wisconsin in which the convention was held, and to bless the United States, "our great country."
One online commenter said that he "sensed" Trump spoke for so long "because it seemed like he didn't want to leave us."
"I do think more about God." – Donald Trump
TRUMP ON GUTFELD!
At a surprise appearance on the late-night comedy show Gutfeld! on Wednesday, the former president once again put God front and center.
Speaking like a boxing ring announcer, Gutfeld introduced Trump by shouting, "At 6'2, fighting out of the Red Corner from Queens, New York, the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump."
After some initial jokes – like "I always say golf is a very dangerous game" in reference to the recent assassination attempt at the West Palm Beach golf course in Florida – Gutfeld got serious.
He asked Trump if the assassination attempts have made him think more about his own "mortality" and what happens "after you move on." Trump said he did "not [think] about mortality, but I do think more about God."
"It's always a consequential president that gets shot at," he added, "and fortunately so far I've been very lucky – or something greater than all of us … something is up there looking over us."
The program ended with Tyrus, a former professional wrestler, giving Trump a championship belt. The audience followed Tyrus' gesture with a long, standing ovation.
Did you happen to watch TRUMP on Gutfeld yesterday? 4.9 million people did. TRUMP knocked it out of the park. He's the REAL DEAL. Now, be a REAL MAN and vote for TRUMP. You will feel better about yourself. – online comment
ALLEGED PROPHECY RESURRECTED
The fact that the former president has survived two assassination attempts in as many months has sparked renewed interest online in a forty-year-old alleged prophecy concerning Trump.
In 1983, Tom Zimmer, an American living as a Catholic hermit in the Italian village of Loreto, claimed that he received a vision foretelling Donald Trump would lead America back to God.
Renowned for his holiness, Zimmer, who compiled the popular Pieta Prayer Book devotional, was visited by people from around the world. In 2000, a Catholic priest traveled to Loreto to ask the hermit about his alleged vision.
Numerous sources quote Zimmer as telling the priest, "Right now in the United States there's a man who has the hand of God on him. He has the IQ of a genius and a first-class education. And everything he approaches he attacks with a blind efficiency."
"This man is Donald Trump and he will bring people back to God," Zimmer reportedly said.
Unsurprisingly, the priest was incredulous and pushed back, pointing out that Trump "is a jet-setting playboy millionaire" who "dates Hollywood starlets" and lives a hedonistic lifestyle.
Zimmer replied, "I'm telling you the hand of God is on him and God is going to use him in the future."
Whether Zimmer's alleged vision is credible, or what bearing it might have on America's future – or the upcoming election – remains to be seen.
In any case, what's undeniable is that God figures more and more prominently in Trump's language and life.
At the New York rally, Trump himself made a prophecy, of sorts. He predicted there are those who are going to say God spared him because they could see that "Trump is going to turn the state around. He's going to turn this country around. He's going to make America great again and … we're going to bring back religion into our country again."
Trump also predicted that New York would "go Red" once again, as it did for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
"It hasn't been done for a long time, but we are going to win New York and that's the first time in many, many years that a Republican can honestly say it," he said. "We're going to do it. We have to do it. ... We take over the White House, and we fix up our country."
Editor's note: Click here or on the image for a free download of the Pieta Prayer Book
and the 15 St. Bridget Prayers.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.