By Wonderwall.com Editors
6:00pm PDT, Mar 31, 2024
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Donald Trump is getting a jump on Easter this year by selling an America-themed Bible for $59.99. In a video posted on his Truth Social platform on March 26, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appealed to his supporters' Christian faith and their wallets as he hawked copies of the "God Bless the USA" Bible, a joint merch effort from Trump and "God Bless the USA" singer Lee Greenwood.
"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again," Trump captioned his post. "As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible."
The Bible includes a King James Version translation, copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as the chorus of Greenwood's song. The book's sales website notes it's "the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!"
The fine print also says the Bible is not affiliated with a political campaign. Rather, Trump's "name, likeness and image" are being used "under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC." Trump is "getting royalties from purchases, according to a person familiar with the details of the business arrangement," The New York Times reported.
Royalties should come in handy right now: The former president is embroiled in four criminal cases, multiple civil lawsuits and was recently ordered to post a reduced $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case.
Trump's Bible merch sparked a wave of reactions on social media, late-night TV and beyond.
Keep reading for details…
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"It's my favorite book," Donald Trump, who famously botched the pronunciation of 2 Corinthians while speaking at Liberty University in 2016, said in his Truth Social post promoting the product.
"I'm proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again," he continued. "Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country. And I truly believe that we need to bring them back and have to bring them back fast. I think it's one of the biggest problems we have. That's why our country is going haywire. We've lost religion in our country."
Members of the online Christian community Faithful America were offended by the former president's decision to sell Bibles "during Holy Week like it's just one more overpriced Trump shoe or steak," the organization's executive director, Rev. Nathan Empsall, told Newsweek.
In an email, the pastor added, "Seeing the indicted, would-be dictator, sell so-called 'patriotic' Bibles does provide a parallel to Holy Week, but it's not with Jesus."
Others seemed to agree.
Join us for a peek at the best reactions from entertainers, politicians and more…
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"Yes, Donald Trump is now hawking a Bible and it's just like any other 'Good Book,' except in the middle of this one, there's a centerfold," Stephen Colbert joked on "The Late Show."
"Wow, Mary was a Bethlehem 8. I wouldn't kick her out of the manger for eating crackers," he added while imitating the former president.
"This comes as no surprise to anyone. Making a profit is Trump's religion. As his Jesus famously said, 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle if you pay me in three easy installments of $19.95.' Call now, disciples are standing by!'" he joked.
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"The last time he was on his knees, he was looking to pick up a french fry. Please," Joy Behar said on "The View."
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"Yup, the guy who is about to go on trial for paying hush money to cover up an affair with a porn star is sellin' Bibles. And because it's a Trump Bible, most of the 10 Commandments are blacked out," Seth Meyers said on "Late Night."
Listing the other Donald Trump-branded products the former president has recently hawked for a profit, Meyers asked, "What's next?" and held up a toilet plunger.
"I'm proud to announce the Trump-approved 'God Bless the USA' toilet plunger,'" Meyers said while mimicking Trump's voice. "As you can see, it has a beautiful white plastic handle, it comes with a solid gold bottom — you should see the bottom — you can't see the bottom, but I assure you it's there…"
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"Donald Trump selling bibles is like Marjorie Taylor Greene selling self-help books," Dan Rather wrote on X.
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"Happy Holy Week, Donald. Instead of selling Bibles, you should probably buy one. And read it, including Exodus 20:14," Liz Cheney wrote on X, referencing the verse that reads, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
A jury previously found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the '90s while he was married to Marla Maples. In January, he was ordered to pay $83.3 million for defaming Carroll by denying her sexual assault allegations.
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"Of all of the times you want to hustle using the Bible, why would you do it during Holy Week, which is really a spit in the face of people that really believe in the Bible from a Christian point of view," Rev. Al Sharpton said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on March 28.
"I wonder how many ministers or conservative evangelicals that will go to their pulpit tomorrow or on Sunday Easter using the Trump Bible. They ought to be defrocked if they would even try and act like this is nothing but what it is, and that's a hustle," he added. "For those in the Evangelical community not to come out and say, 'Wait a minute, during Holy Week, that's a step too far,' makes us wonder where their commitment really is."
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"I like how they made the Bible the exact color of his skin. … Corinthian leather," Jimmy Fallon joked on "The Tonight Show."
Imitating the former president's video sales pitch, he added, "It's my favorite book right after 'Captain Underpants' and the Cheesecake Factory menu."
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"Yes, Trump is mashing together the Bible and the Constitution like it's a Pizza Hut-Taco Bell," said "The Daily Show" host Jordan Klepper while poking fun at Donald Trump's "latest very classy business venture" on the show.
"I know people will say that you're not supposed to mix the Bible and the Constitution, but what you have to understand is Trump has never read either of them," he continued.
"Trump getting into business with God can only mean one thing: God is going to end up bankrupt and serving a three-month prison sentence for lying under oath," he joked. "I mean, what's amazing about this is that Trump just made $5 billion on his new stock. Buddy, you're not supposed to be doing this embarrassing grifter s*** when you're that rich. Just start a private space company like a normal billionaire sociopath."
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"It's Holy Week, and so I cannot say what I would like to say," Sunny Hostin said on "The View."
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Donald Trump's Bible sales made his onetime White House Communications Director, Alyssa Farah Griffin, "think of the persecuted … Christians around the world who risk their lives" to read the Bible, she said on "The View."
"And he's using it to profit off of. That tells you all that you need to know about the man," she added.
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"It's pandering. It comes on the heels of him thinking that he could get the Black vote by promoting golden sneakers," co-host Sarah Haines said on "The View."
"I can't help but think of Tim Alberta, the author who was here when he talked about, 'You can either choose a strong man who has a sword or you can walk in the path of Jesus,'" she continued.
"You can hold a Bible, you can quote 'two Corinthians,' you can avoid the 10 Commandments because they do not apply to you — thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not be an adulterer… thou shalt not steal — you can do all those things. But you do not walk in the path of Jesus … He is not an example of what I'm taught in church," she added.
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"Trump Is Now Hawking 'God Bless The USA'-Themed Bibles To His Supporters," George Takei wrote on X. "And The Grift Is Real."
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"Well, at least he's holding it right side up? I guess?" said "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC. She was referring to a controversial 2020 photo op the former president appeared to have staged in which he posed while holding a Bible upside down for cameras outside a church amid protests over George Floyd's death at the hands of police.
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"There's NOTHING 'holy' about selling Bibles 'endorsed by Trump.' More blasphemous grift," Tara Setmayer, a conservative political scholar and Senior Advisor to the Lincoln Project, wrote on X.
"Beware: 'For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.' Matthew 24:24."
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"I think the thing that you can't take your eyes off of is that he's commodifying the Bible during Holy Week, that he's selling it for $60, and this money might go to pay some of the legal fees for his relationship with a porn star that he paid off. You know, let us pray here," said commentator Charlie Sykes on "Morning Joe."
"I mean, the cynicism here is not a new story, but can I just remind people that Donald Trump has been asked in the past, 'What is your favorite verse of the Bible?' and he has no idea. He talks about 'Two Corinthians.' He's been asked by faith leaders, 'Do you ever ask for forgiveness? Do you ever pray?' and [said] 'not really.' And yet, you know, conservative evangelical Christians have swallowed this," he continued.
"But this is so much Donald Trump. I mean, it is such an artifact of this political moment where this Elmer Gantry grifter … who sells the golden tennis shoes, is now selling the Bible to Christians at this particular moment," he added.
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"He can be out there hawking and all he wants, but to me it's just one more moment of hypocrisy," Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"I hope people step back and look at some of the things he's said and done in his life … including asking a Republican secretary of state to find more votes after an election … and look at what the teaching of the Bible [says] and make a decision about who they're going to support," she added.
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The cracks about golden footwear were digs at Donald Trump's limited edition gold "Never Surrender High-Tops," which he sold at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia earlier this year for $399 a pair.
When Trump's team was asked for comment about the negative reaction to his Bible sales, spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek, "These are Never Trump idiots suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."
