On Sunday, amidst his desperate push for re-election, President Donald Trump attended a morning church service at the International Church of Las Vegas in Nevada. Towards the end of the sermon from Pastor Marc Goulet — who spent a good deal of his time heaping praise on Trump — the president himself briefly took the mic and offered some thoughts to fellow service attendees. He claimed, in part, that he goes “to many churches” and “loves” going to church — which seems dubious, at best. He’s spent many of his weekends in office out on one of his own golf courses rather than at church.
As recounted by Nevada reporter Megan Messerly, Trump said, in part:
‘I go to many churches and I love going to churches… We are with you 100 percent. We are telling you [that] you better get out because we have a group on the other side who doesn’t agree with us… Get out there on November 3 or sooner.’
President Trump has now taken the mic: "I go to many churches and I love going to churches … We are with you 100 percent. We are telling you you better get out because we have a group on the other side who doesn't agree with us … Get out there on Nov. 3 or sooner." pic.twitter.com/7F3sL2QQkZ
— Megan Messerly (@meganmesserly) October 18, 2020
Besides the questionable nature of the president’s own claim that he frequently or semi-frequently goes to church, the entire spectacle of Trump’s presence at that Las Vegas church reeked of corruption. For most reasonable intents and purposes, Pastor Goulet temporarily turned his church into a de facto arm of the Trump campaign, it seems. At one point, Goulet even indicated that during prayer he was apparently seeing a vision of the Statue of Liberty with Donald Trump in place of the actual figure holding the torch in the real-world monument. In the real world, the figure that the statue depicts is a Roman goddess of liberty known as Libertas. This level, it seems, is where the president’s allies have sunk to as Election Day approaches — comparing the president with an ancient Roman goddess.
Goulet now references the Statute of Liberty, except he says as he's praying, he sees President Trump with the torch: "Sir, I'm telling you right now, I see you with the torch right now. I see lighting a bright light for God and for all those who believe in a good America."
— Megan Messerly (@meganmesserly) October 18, 2020
In his remarks, Goulet acknowledged the potential detractors from his sermon. Churches are generally banned under federal tax law from directly campaigning either on behalf of or in opposition to any particular political candidate, but the pastor claimed that rather than being “political,” he was simply “honoring our president right now because he’s done the right thing.” At a later point, Goulet insisted that Trump is working to bring “a little bit more heaven down on Earth.”
Goulet says he is not here to talk about President Trump, though he is spending a lot of this sermon talking about Trump.
"I'm not here to talk about this man, but he happens to be here and I want to honor him and affirm him, because when I appeal to the King, I appeal for him."
— Megan Messerly (@meganmesserly) October 18, 2020
There’s a deeply rooted irony in the widespread evangelical support for Donald Trump — he most definitely does not exemplify many of the values that these evangelicals claim to stand for. Trump is a documented liar, business cheater, bully, and he has even faced serious revelations of having apparently perpetrated sexual harassment and assault against numerous women. Many prominent evangelicals have seemed content to not just look the other way but actively embrace the president in the face of his behaviors. Notably, conservatives have accused Democrats of harboring animosity towards religion in general — but Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is an openly practicing Catholic. The idea that Democrats, who have a Catholic presidential nominee, are somehow anti-Catholic or anti-Christian in general is just incorrect.
Trump’s support from (generally white) evangelicals has not been enough to majorly buoy his campaign. Biden routinely leads in national-level polls by double-digits, with just weeks until Election Day.
