Talk of divine intervention as Trump speaks at Florida summit for the religious right

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In the days since Donald Trump narrowly dodged a would-be assassin’s bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a unifying message has emerged among some of his supporters: that it was God who saved the former president’s life — and, in turn, blessed Trump’s bid for the White House.

That belief served as a central theme of the Believers’ Summit, a three-day gathering in West Palm Beach that kicked off on Friday with a speech from Trump. Thousands of conservatives packed into a sprawling conference hall to blaring new age gospel music and Christian rock. Many donned “Make America Great Again” hats or Trump-branded t-shirts as they settled in to listen to a speech from Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point Action, the host of this weekend’s gathering.

“We were two centimeters away from not just losing President Trump, but also going into a dark chapter in this country that none of us even want to entertain,” Kirk said. “And as we’re here at the Believers’ Summit, I think it is appropriate to give thanks and glory to God for sparing the life of President Trump.”

The attempted assassination, Kirk said, was more than just an act of divine mercy. “Maybe,” he said, “God spared Donald Trump to test his church. Maybe he spared Donald Trump to see what his church is made of.”

It’s a claim that has been echoed across conservative political circles — from state lawmakers and members of Congress to religious leaders and activists.

Within minutes of the attempted assassination this month, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio asserted that “God protected President Trump.” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz opened his speech at the Republican National Convention last week by “giving thanks to God Almighty for protecting President Trump and for turning his head on Saturday as the shot was fired.”

Trump, whose right ear was injured in the shooting, has himself leaned into the notion that he was saved by divine intervention. As he took the stage on Friday night at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, Trump told supporters that he was only there “thanks to the power of prayer and the grace of Almighty God.”

One Pennsylvania rally attendee, a 50-year-old firefighter, was killed in the shooting, while two other spectators were wounded.

Titus Ellis Smith, a conservative YouTuber and internet personality who’s scheduled to participate in a panel discussion at the Believers’ Summit on Saturday, said that the fact that anyone was killed in the shooting was a “sad situation,” but added that “God has a plan” for Trump’s life “just like anyone else.”

Smith said he’s not sure if Trump’s narrow escape from the assassination attempt was God’s intervention, noting the death of the firefighter, Corey Comperatore.

“It’s just such a tough situation. It’s a sad situation, no one should have lost their life. No one should have gotten shot,” Smith said. “But I’m grateful that (Trump’s) still here. I’m sorry that we had that loss.”

Speaking at the summit, Jentezen Franklin, televangelist and the senior pastor of Free Chapel in Georgia, said the attempt on Trump’s life was a “wake-up call” for the country. He recalled a sermon he preached in 1990 that he called “Blood-anointed Ears, Blood-anointed Hands and Blood-anointed Feet.” God, Franklin said, gave Trump “blood-anointed ears.”

“When the assassin’s bullet missed his head and shot the president in the ear, blood was on his ear,” Franklin said. “My prayer is that God will open his ears like never before.”

Jeremiah Johnson, a 27-year-old who traveled to West Palm Beach from Tampa for the summit, recalled how Trump was “half an inch from death.” It was God who spared the former president’s life, he said.

“If God wanted him dead, he could have pushed the bullet half an inch,” Johnson, who described himself as a Christian nationalist, said. “But he’s here today.”

Conservative Republicans have long embraced the notion that their causes have the might of God behind them, but the messaging around Trump’s brush with death takes it a step further. Not only did God save the former president, some conservatives argue, but anointed him as the savior of a country plagued by secularism and moral decay.

“Certainly religion and politics in this country have been intertwined from the beginning,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. “But I think the religious right is more involved in politics today than they have been at any point since the Reagan era. (Trump) has encouraged them, he’s rallied them in a way that’s really effective.”

For much of his life, Trump’s public persona has been that of a businessman and celebrity rather than of a devoutly religious conservative. Before arrival on the political stage nearly a decade ago, the billionaire real estate mogul was known more as a wealthy playboy who had been married three times and expressed moderate views on divisive issues like abortion rights.

His decision in 2016 to tap Mike Pence, a prominent evangelical Christian, as his running mate was intended, at least in part, to ease some religious conservatives’ concerns with Trump’s candidacy.

Since then, he has frequently made overtures to religious conservatives. He built relationships with evangelical leaders, addressed congregations at churches like El Rey Jesús in Miami and became the first sitting president to attend the anti-abortion March for Life in Washington, D.C.

On Friday, just hours before Trump took the stage in West Palm Beach, his campaign rolled out “Believers of Trump,” an effort to mobilize church congregations to register voters.

Now, Jewett added, “there are people who think he’s ordained to lead the country, and he cultivates that image for himself.”

“(Christian conservatives) have come around in the sense of accepting an imperfect leader or messenger, because he’s been willing to push the policies that they’re looking for,” Jewett said. “I mean, the most obvious example is the overturning of Roe v. Wade that he gets so much credit for among the religious right.”

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(This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.)