Weekend Plug-in 🔌

Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” meets readers at the intersection of faith and news. Subscribe now to get this column delivered straight to your inbox. Got feedback or ideas? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.

(ANALYSIS) America’s presidential candidates keep invoking God Almighty.

President Joe Biden, 81, did so two weeks ago when — fresh off the worst debate performance in U.S. presidential history — he was asked in a crucial sit-down interview if he might leave the race.

"If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?" ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos asked. 

"It depends on — on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that," replied the incumbent Democrat, who has characterized his Catholic faith as the “bedrock foundation” of his life.

Stephanopoulos kept pressing Biden on various scenarios before repeating the question.

“You’re sure?” the anchor said.

“Well, yeah, I’m sure,” Biden replied. “Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race,’ I'd get outta the race. The Lord Almighty's not comin' down.”

Biden’s response prompted liberal political commentator Bill Press, author of the 2018 memoir “From the Left: Life in the Crossfire,” to opine at The Hill:

Invoking the divine is risky for any president, especially Biden. Because the Good Lord might have a different message than the one he wants to hear.

Take it from me. I have a degree in theology. I know scripture. And, given Biden’s dismal performance in his debate with Donald Trump, I’m pretty sure what God, the ultimate straight shooter, might tell Biden. 

Based on a flurry of news stories Thursday, leading Democrats — if not the Lord Almighty directly — are pressing Biden harder than ever to step aside.

Via Axios: “Several top Democrats privately tell us the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race, as soon as this weekend.” 

Via the New York Times: “Several people close to President Biden said on Thursday that they believe he has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race, bowing to the growing demands of many anxious members of his party.”

Via the Washington Post: “Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has told some House Democrats she believes President Biden can be persuaded fairly soon to exit the presidential race amid serious doubts he can win in November, according to three Democratic officials familiar with her private discussions.” Former President Barack Obama “has told allies in recent days that Biden needs to seriously reconsider the viability of his candidacy.”

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, 78, invoked God Almighty as he accepted his third consecutive Republican presidential nomination Thursday night in Milwaukee.

Five days after surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., Trump recounted his near-death experience. 

“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump, his wounded right ear still bandaged, said near the beginning of his more than 90 minutes of remarks. “Not supposed to be here.”

“Yes, you are,” the MAGA crowd chanted.

“Thank you,” replied Trump, who was raised Presbyterian but is now a nondenominational Christian. “But I’m not. And I’ll tell you: I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.

“And watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment,” the former president added. “Probably was.” 

Earlier, Trump told the crowd, “There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side. I felt that.

Trump’s son Eric offered a similar take from the Milwaukee stage before his father’s speech.

“Dad, five days ago, Lara, Luke, Carolina and I held our breath as we saw blood pour across your face,” Eric said, addressing his father directly. “By the grace of God, divine intervention and your guardian angels above, you survived.”

Such sentiments resounded during this week’s Republican National Convention.

“Not even an assassin’s bullet could stop him,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019, said to cheers. “God Almighty intervened because America is one nation under God, and he is certainly not finished with President Trump.”

Trump’s “followers had long viewed him as handpicked by God. The attempted assassination has only increased such quasi-religious devotion and rhetoric,” according to the New York Times.

A team at the Washington Post — including religion writer Michelle Boorstein — put it this way: “Former president Donald Trump’s narrow escape from an assassin’s bullet has reinvigorated talk among some of his supporters that the thrice-married billionaire is a messiah figure, anointed by God to save a troubled nation.”

But — surprise! — not everyone agrees.

The Post story noted:

For some, scripture went the other way. On X, some users noted that, in Revelation 13:3, a beast understood to be the Antichrist, or Satan, heals from a head wound and is then globally idolized. Others questioned the spiritual interpretation of the day’s violence, which left one rally attendee dead and two others critically injured.

“Oh but God didn’t care about the guy in the crowd that was actually killed?” one X poster said.

NPR’s religion correspondent, Jason DeRose, also delved into God’s role — or not — in Trump’s survival, as did Politico, CNN, USA Today and the Washington Times. On the latest episode of the “Crossroads” podcast, Terry Mattingly asks, “Did God alone save Trump?”

To phrase it a different way: Was Trump’s survival the result of divine intervention? 

That was the question posed by the New York Post, which reported, “A striking image of a tangled US flag that appears to resemble an angel has the internet convinced that former President Donald Trump was protected by a higher power.”

I’ll wrap up with a couple of questions:

1. Does God Almighty want Biden to exit the race? 

2. Does God Almighty want a second Trump term?

Unfortunately, I’m unable to provide a definitive answer to either question. My security clearance level does not go that high.

Inside The Godbeat

NPR’s national desk is expanding its coverage of religion and spirituality, according to a note to newsroom staff.

Daniel Burke, a former CNN religion editor, will serve as a senior editor.

“Very excited to be heading back into the newsroom and joining the excellent journalists at NPR,” Burke wrote on social media.

Sarah Ventre, who recently filled an interim role as the Religion News Association’s director of operations, will work as a senior producer.

“Can’t wait for lots of collaborations with brilliant colleagues in and out of NPR!” Ventre posted on X.

The Final Plug

“Free Bread.”

“Free Bibles.”

The simple messages catch the attention of motorists passing a Fort Worth, Texas, church — at a busy corner just off a major thoroughfare.

“Is it really free?’” people ask.

“It’s free,” church member Booker Williams assures them. “It’s like salvation. You’ve just got to come and get it.”

Read my Christian Chronicle feature on the Bridgewood Church of Christ.

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the weekend.

Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.