Make America blaspheme again

It’s election year in the United States and electioneering for the country’s presidency, touted as the most powerful office in the world, is coming to the wire. Former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee, is throwing all aces in the ring for his square off with incumbent President Joe Biden of the Democrats. It is a rematch of the 2020 race that Trump grudgingly lost to Biden and he is apparently leaving nothing to chance to gain an edge this time. His latest card is patenting the Bible – a divinely authored and universal literature – for sale as America’s patriotism codebook and item of merchandise.

The ex-president posted a video on his Truth Social network by which he urged his supporters to buy the ‘God Bless the USA Bible,’ named after a ballad by country singer Lee Greenwood alongside whom he’s appeared at events, and whose song he airs whenever he takes the stage at his rallies. The mercantilist motive underpinning  the venture seeped through in the choice of the Passion Week, a week highly significant in the Christian faith, for its outing. “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,” Trump wrote, directing his supporters to a website selling the Bibles for $59.99, inclusive of shipping and tax – a price tag higher than the average price of Bibles on American shelves. 

“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” the ex-president said in his video. “I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country and we must make America pray again,” he added in obvious adaptation of his campaign slogan ‘Make America Great Again (MAGA). Billing itself as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!” the product’s website describes it as “easy-to-read, large print and slim design” that “invites you to explore God’s Word anywhere, any time.” It added: “This Bible has been designed so that it delivers an easy reading experience in the trusted King James Version translation. This large print Bible will be perfect to take to church, bible study, work, travel, etc.” Besides the KJV text of scripture that it contains, the product features a copy of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as handwritten chorus to the famous Greenwood song, ‘God Bless The USA.’

Money from the sale of the Bible is not being funneled to Trump’s campaign, according to the Bible’s website, but Trump did license the agreement, implying that he’s benefiting from it. The website states that the item is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign – a statement that only underscores the mercantilist motivation: after all, it isn’t only Republicans who read the Bible in America and thus should be its intended buyers, Democrats and people of other political persuasions do as well. “GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” the website further states. But it also provides the explanation that “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.” CIC Ventures LLC is a firm Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure, and thus while he may not be directly selling the Bible, he stands to draw royalties from purchases. Besides, he may already have drawn hefty cash for the “paid license.”

The Bible sales pitch comes as Trump appears to be confronting significant financial squeeze amidst mounting legal fees as he fights four criminal cases and a slew of civil lawsuits. He began promoting the Bible on social media a day after a panel of state appeals judges in New York required him to post $175million as bond to stop enforcement of a $454million civil judgment for corporate fraud. That ruling came after he posted another $92million bond earlier in March to stave off enforcement of a verdict against him for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused the ex-president of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump denied the claim, but a federal civil court jury found him liable for sexual assault. 

“Trump’s Bible won’t make America pray again, it is making America desecrate the holy book.”

Bible merchandising is only the latest venture that Trump is promoting in his political and business careers. In February, he debuted a new line of Trump-branded sneakers on a venture platform that also sells other Trump-branded footwear, cologne and perfume. The ex-president was last year reported earning between $100,000 and $1million from a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images, including as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero. Indeed, there’s very little he hasn’t tried to license or brand with his name printed in massive golden letters. Before he ran for office, he famously hawked everything from frozen steaks to vodka, water, airline, casinos and a Trump University that was later sued for fraud. Now, at Easter, the Bible gets in the equation.

The ex-president remains deeply popular with white evangelical Christians, who are among his most ardent supporters, although the thrice-married former reality Tv star has a behavioral reputation that fell at odds with teachings espoused by Jesus Christ, the central character of the scripture. Neither is he very familiar, at least from indications, with the content of the Bible that he calls his “favorite book” in the new sales pitch, even though he’s used the holy book as visual prop on outings. In a 2015 interview with Bloomberg, Trump was asked to share his favorite Bible verse and he demurred, saying: “I wouldn’t want to get into that. Because to me, that’s very personal. The Bible means a lot to me, but I don’t want to get into specifics.” During his electioneering for the presidency in 2016, he raised eyebrows at a university townhall when he cited “Two Corinthians” instead of the standard “Second Corinthians.” And during his presidency, law enforcement agents aggressively cleared racial justice protesters from a park close to the White House, allowing Trump to walk to nearby St. John’s Episcopal Church where he stood his ground and held aloft a Bible – apparently unwittingly, upside down! That manoeuvre was promptly berated by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

Trump’s seeming lack of touch with the Bible apart, there are many things wrong with his commercial venture with the holy book. Christians and non-Christians alike regard the Bible as a sacred literature that is divinely authored. No living human has a patent on it, and it isn’t exclusive to any people or nation; meaning that endorsing the Bible as a document of national patriotism is blasphemy writ large. And neither is the Bible a conventional item of merchandise. Price tags at sales points across the world usually reflect the cost of printing, value additions like commentaries, and allied logistics, but certainly not endorsement royalties. Licensing the Bible for merchandising  as Trump did, and the timing of introducing the product into the market darkly echoed the original text in the holy book where money changers and hawkers of religious items seized the occasion of the Passover to take over the temple with their wares during the first Passion Week, prompting Jesus to get a whip and drive them out saying they made the temple a den of thieves. 

The Bible as God’s word does not need any man’s endorsement to reinforce its appeal. Also, co-opting nationalistic documents and a favorite ballad into the package infringes its sanctity and universality. No, Trump’s Bible won’t make America pray again, it is making America desecrate the holy book.