The President-Elect Is Not Divinely Ordained

On November 5^th, America made itself clear that the agenda and campaign ran by the Democratic Party was not sufficient enough to justify their continued role as leaders of the country. Whatever can be said about Kamala Harris’s lackluster performance while running for president likely already has. And whether you are elated by the results of the election, apathetic about them, or heartbroken, it is obvious who the majority of Americans believe should occupy The White House for the next four years.

In my mind, the results speak so clearly for themselves that at the very least, one can take solace in the ease and the clarity that was expressed on election day. And these results come within the context of one of the most chaotic Presidential elections ever to take place, with twists and turns taking place so rapidly and repeatedly, that predictions and prognostications were rendered utterly useless. 

One event, you will recall, that stunned the world was the assassination attempt of now President-Elect Donald Trump, at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. From a rooftop not so far away from Donald Trump’s podium, an amateur shooter armed with a rifle gets off several shots into the crowd, with one bullet grazing the then former President’s ear. The President could have been killed right then and there. But by firing his weapon, the shooter announced himself to the security detail and was shot dead instantly.

It was no more than a few moments when the first cries of “it’s a miracle!” could be heard. Since then, I have heard no less than two dozen commentators express their belief that it was God who had turned Trump’s head at the very last moment––yes, it was God who saved Trump, so that Trump, of course, may save America. I think this is wrong and potentially dangerous. 

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One of the worst aspects of religious style thinking is to see miracles, that is, to apply the hand of God where they are not necessary. Mostly, this overcomplicates relatively simple situations and puts them in the context of the supernatural––a category of explanation that often raises many more questions than it actually answers. If you remember, and I am sure you do, Trump was in the middle of giving his speech and while referencing a visual aid on a nearby screen, he turned his head ever-so-slightly, just as a bullet was being fired right on track to enter his brain.

The bullet, instead of assassinating Trump, grazed his ear, causing a likely painful, but ultimately superficial wound. I don’t know how to explain to someone that every detail of this story can be done so through physics, through a very down-to-earth, very common narrative. Yes, it is coincidental, yes, it is incredibly lucky that Trump turned his head, but nothing about this event requires a supernatural influence. Nothing about this requires a miracle worker or an angelic intervention. 

For those who think it was God that spared Trump’s life, as I pointed out before, now have many, many more questions they must now answer. For one, why would the solution to the assassin’s bullet be to turn Donald Trump’s head? This seems to be a rather unsophisticated use of Godly powers. Couldn’t the would-be assassin’s alarm not just go off that morning? Could his car not have started? Could he have not been apprehended, by happenstance? Could the officers surrounding the perimeter not have heeded the calls of the bystanders, who were pointing and shouting about a man on a roof? Could the assassin not have a moral crisis the night before, called the whole thing off, and decided to dedicate his life to, I don’t know, volunteering? This seems silly, but if you believe God can do anything, it is a much better outcome for everyone, as far as miracles are involved. 

For those who think it was a miracle of God, you do make God out to be a kind of 80’s style action hero out of Hollywood, swooping down to save the good guys at the very last second, for the sake of dramatic appeal. If God moved Trump’s head at the very last second, it means he waited until the very last second. God waited until the very last second to move Trump’s head, and Trump still was hit. What would be the purpose of that? 

We also have Corey Comperatore to contend with. Witnesses and family say as shots rang out, Corey was shielding his wife and two daughters from gunfire when he was fatally struck by one of the assassins’ bullets. The obvious question, one that cannot be sufficiently answered, is why God couldn’t have helped Corey and his family? Could he not have swerved that fatal bullet that ended up killing Corey? Is Trump a better Christian––assuming the God who worked this miracle for him is a Christian God?

Whatever the case, I have had my go. Bullets can fly and some people turn their heads at the right moment and live, and some people shield their family and they die. I personally don’t need much more of an explanation than that, from the standpoint of basic physics. But what I think is dangerous is when God, the American Flag, the Bible, and the President all swirl in a patriotic stew, where God is obviously an American. Where God intervenes in politics and makes his preferences well-known. Where God chooses our candidates for us and anything less than his unspoken word is decidedly ungodly and therefore demonic. 

I guess what I mean is––Trump is the now the President-Elect because America voted in his favor. That has to be good enough. It cannot be any better than that. For if God has his own ideas about who should be President, why then, should we need to vote at all?

Judson Stacy Vereen is the author of American Pleasure, 62 Poems from Judson Vereen, and Like A Bird Knows To Sing. He is also a staff contributor to Wrong Speak, where he publishes a bi-monthly opinion column. His substack page is Dispatches from Bohemian Splendor.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.