By Paul O’Donnell | Religion News Service
Reactions from faith leaders and fellow politicians to Donald Trump’s narrow escape from an apparent assassin’s bullet called upon God’s protection for the former president and for the nation.
“May God protect all who serve us,” wrote Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Seminary on X, after news broke Saturday evening (July 13) that shots had been fired at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shortly after the candidate took the stage. “Thankful former President Trump is safe. We need to know what happened here. This kind of attack is an attack upon our entire political system and our commitment to ordered liberty. Let’s pray for our nation.”
Mohler’s sentiments about the dangers of political violence were echoed across the religious spectrum in the United States. “There can be no place for violence, political or otherwise, in our nation,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union of Reform Judaism. “This is a dangerous moment and we must all appeal to the better angels of our nature. We are praying for President Trump’s health and for all those injured.”
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, in his statement on X, wrote, “I ask you to join me in prayer for Donald Trump’s health and for our country to pull together in peace during these divisive times.”
Trump assassination attempt reactions
Others were moved to thank God that the assailant, who was reportedly killed while trying to escape capture, was not successful. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, also on X. “I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
Franklin Graham, the head of his father’s Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, similarly posted simply, “I thank God that former President @realDonaldTrump is alive.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida went further, proclaiming that “God protected Donald Trump,” seeming to bolster the notion, popular among some conservative Christians, that Trump has been ordained by God to lead the country.
Paula White, a Pentecostal pastor who headed the White House Faith-Based Office in the Trump Administration and recruited many members of the former president’s informal evangelical advisory board, also imbued the incident with a broader scope. ”They have tried to destroy this man from the day he walked down the escalator,” she wrote on X, accompanied by a picture of Trump with Jesus over his shoulders. “They lied on him, slandered him, tried to impeach him, tried to imprison him and now have tried to kill him.”
One spectator was killed and two critically injured during the incident, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, in his statement on X, wrote, “I ask you to join me in prayer for Donald Trump’s health and for our country to pull together in peace during these divisive times.”
Citing divine intervention
Others were moved to thank God that the assailant, who was reportedly killed while trying to escape capture, was not successful. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, also on X. “I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
Franklin Graham, the head of his father’s Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, similarly posted simply, “I thank God that former President @realDonaldTrump is alive.”
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida went further, proclaiming that “God protected Donald Trump,” seeming to bolster the notion, popular among some conservative Christians, that Trump has been ordained by God to lead the country.
Paula White, a Pentecostal pastor who headed the White House Faith-Based Office in the Trump Administration and recruited many members of the former president’s informal evangelical advisory board, also imbued the incident with a broader scope. ”They have tried to destroy this man from the day he walked down the escalator,” she wrote on X, accompanied by a picture of Trump with Jesus over his shoulders. “They lied on him, slandered him, tried to impeach him, tried to imprison him and now have tried to kill him.”
One spectator was killed and two critically injured during the incident, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
