Is Trump like Jesus? – Mother Jones

The martyr himself.Shealah Craighead/White House/ZUMA

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is known for many things: talking about a “Jewish space laser”; white supremacy; political violence; having a lawyer who is rude to Mother Jones in court and she has a seemingly limitless loyalty to former President Donald Trump.

She continued the latter last week with a special emphasis: she compared Trump to Jesus Christ.

At a rally in Las Vegas yesterday, Taylor Greene condemned those who accurately describe Trump as a now-convicted felon, saying, “The Democrats and the fake news media want to keep talking about, ‘oh, President Trump is a convicted felon.’ You want to know something? The man I admire is also a convicted felon.” The crowd cheered. “And he was murdered on a Roman cross,” Taylor Greene continued.

It is not the first time the fiery congresswoman has compared Trump to Jesus: She did so last year after Trump was arrested for the 34 crimes related to the hush money case for which he has since been found guilty. “President Trump joins the ranks of some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested and served time in prison. Jesus! Jesus was arrested and murdered,” Taylor Greene said.

Here, at Mother JonesRegardless of what your lawyer says, we try to stick to the facts. So the question is: Is Trump like Jesus Christ?

Just yesterday, at the Las Vegas rally, he suggested imposing the death penalty on drug dealers; many Christians oppose the death penalty. Trump also has (at least) five children by three different women; the Bible condemns divorce. The Bible condemns sexual harassment, for which Trump was found liable in writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit last year; it also prohibits adultery, and Trump’s hush-money trial centered on allegations that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels not to tell her story about their alleged sexual encounter, which allegedly took place when his wife Melania was home with their young son.

On first examination: slight resemblance to Jesus.

And yet, as I reported earlier this year, polls have shown that a majority of Republicans – not just MTG – consider Trump to be a “person of faith.”

On Easter this year, Trump shared articles on Truth Social from right-wing websites calling him a “miracle” and another suggesting he was crucified. His evangelical and conservative Christian followers have long flirted with his connection to Jesus, selling merchandise with slogans like “God’s guns and Trump” and “JESUS ​​IS MY SAVIOR, TRUMP IS MY PRESIDENT.”

“Thank God we are here,” said Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, at yesterday’s rally, “to honor and bring back the greatest president we have ever known in our generation!”

This is a comparison we can agree with: both are loved by people whose faith is strong and hard to believe.