Trump’s close call fuels talk he was ‘chosen’ by God

July 20, 2024 at 2:38 a.m.

by DREW HARWELL, MICHELLE BOORSTEIN AND JOSH DAWSEY The Washington Post

Then-President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he stands outside St. John’s Church, an historic Episcopal parish near the White House that was lit afire by rioters in May 2020. After surviving an attempted assassination on July 13, Trump posted on social media: “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” (AP file photo)
Then-President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he stands outside St. John’s Church, an historic Episcopal parish near the White House that was lit afire by rioters in May 2020. After surviving an attempted assassination on July 13, Trump posted on social media: “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” (AP file photo)

Former president Donald Trump's narrow escape from an assassin's bullet has reinvigorated talk among some of his supporters that the Florida billionaire has been anointed by God to save a troubled nation.

Since the attack on Trump's life during a campaign rally July 13 in Butler, Pa., left him bloodied but otherwise unharmed, some supporters in Congress and on social media have shared Bible texts and illustrations showing divine forces deflecting the bullet. Internet celebrities such as boxer Jake Paul have called the moment proof of "who God wants to win."

The idea of divine influence has surfaced at the Republican National Convention, where a bandaged and somber Trump was hailed before a raucous Milwaukee crowd Monday night. Some delegates and Trump aides already convinced that the former president would put the country on a righteous course said they saw that belief confirmed from on high last Saturday night.

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