Former President Donald Trump is now promoting Bibles as he runs to return to the White Home.
Trump, who turned the presumptive Republican nominee earlier this month, launched a video on his Fact Social platform on Tuesday urging his supporters to purchase the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which is impressed by nation singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad. Trump takes the stage to the music at every of his rallies and has appeared with Greenwood at occasions.
“Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” Trump wrote, directing his supporters to an internet site promoting the guide for $59.99.
The hassle comes as Trump has confronted a critical cash crunch amid mounting authorized payments whereas he fights 4 prison indictments together with a collection of civil prices. Trump was given a reprieve Monday when a New York appeals court agreed to carry off on accumulating the greater than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment if he places up $175 million inside 10 days. Trump has already posted a $92 million bond in reference to defamation instances introduced by the author E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault.
“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” Trump mentioned within the video posted on Fact Social. “I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again.”
Billing itself as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!” the brand new enterprise’s web site calls it “Easy-to-read” with “large print” and a “slim design” that “invites you to explore God’s Word anywhere, any time.”
In addition to a King James Model translation, it contains copies of the U.S. Structure, the Invoice of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, in addition to a handwritten refrain of the well-known Greenwood music.
The Bible is simply the newest business enterprise that Trump has pursued whereas campaigning.
Final month, he debuted a new line of Trump-branded sneakers, together with $399 gold “Never Surrender High-Tops,” at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia. The enterprise behind the sneakers, 45Footwear, additionally sells different Trump-branded footwear, cologne and fragrance.
Trump has additionally dabbled in NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, and final yr reported earning between $100,000 and $1 million from a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like pictures, together with as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero.
He has additionally launched books that includes photographs of his time in workplace and letters written to him by the years.
The Bible’s web site states the product “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.”
“GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” it says.
As an alternative, it says, “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”
CIC Ventures LLC, an organization that Trump reported proudly owning in his 2023 monetary disclosure, has an analogous association with 45Footwear, which additionally says it makes use of Trump’s “name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”
A Trump spokesperson and God Bless the USA Bible didn’t instantly reply to questions on how a lot Trump was paid for the licensing deal or stands to make from every guide sale.
Trump stays deeply popular with white evangelical Christians, who’re amongst his most ardent supporters, regardless that the thrice-married former actuality TV star has a long history of behavior that always appeared at odds with teachings espoused by Christ within the Gospels.
When he was operating in 2016, Trump raised eyebrows when he cited “Two Corinthians” at Liberty College, as a substitute of the usual “Second Corinthians.”
When requested to share his favourite Bible verse in an interview with Bloomberg Politics in 2015, he demurred.
“I wouldn’t want to get into it. Because to me, that’s very personal,” he mentioned. “The Bible means a lot to me, but I don’t want to get into specifics.”
When he was president, legislation enforcement officers aggressively eliminated racial justice protesters from a park close to the White Home, permitting Trump to stroll to close by St. John’s Church, the place he stood alone and raised a Bible. The scene was condemned on the time by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
Earlier than he ran for workplace, Trump famously hawked every part from frozen steaks to vodka to a enterprise named Trump College, which was later sued for fraud.
