Back in 2022, Jair Bolsonaro claimed that only God could oust him. He probably didn’t realize he was challenging God. Certainly he didn’t plan to make a public demonstration of God’s indifference. He was trying to influence voters. In retrospect, he played the lottery with God and lost. Donald Trump recently made a similar claim. Trump claimed that if Jesus were to count the votes, he, Donald Trump, would win California.
“If Jesus Christ came down and was the vote counter, I would win California, OK?” Trump said. “In other words, if we had an honest vote counter, a really honest vote counter — I do great with Hispanics, great, I mean at a level no Republican has ever done. But if we had an honest vote counter, I would win California.”
As reported by Lydia O’Connor, HuffPost
Trump’s challenge was not as blatant as Bolsonaro’s–you could even call it a positive-thinking prayer–‘if Jesus Christ came down to count the vote’. But the challenge was real just the same. And like Bolsonaro, Trump wasn’t really talking to God. When he told his public that Jesus favored him, he was trying to influence voters, both before and after the election.
Trump is also similar to Bolsonaro in that he put Jesus on the spot for his own benefit. Both men turned a secular election into a religious contest between the candidate and God. And even the most committed secular person knows that when humans challenge God, humans lose. (In Trump’s case we can only hope.)
Bolsonaro lost his election. It wasn’t exactly miraculous that he didn’t win. His campaign was already in trouble before he made this remark. This is also true of Trump’s campaign.
According to the polls, the 2024 election could go either way. But now that Trump has claimed Jesus’s favor (and this isn’t the first time he has done so) his victory will have supernatural meaning for his supporters. For one thing, if he wins it will imply Jesus’s approval of his political agenda going forward. A loss, on the other hand, will be the fault of vote counters. So, it seems that Trump has hedged his bet. However, he may not be thinking of the same Jesus the Bible is talking about.
The Bible is clear about what we should expect if Jesus returns. Everyone will be judged–including the dead. Jesus will usher in the Kingdom of God and renew the universe. The current world will end and a new creation will begin–a perfect world without sin or suffering. The righteous will receive eternal life in Heaven and the wicked will face eternal damnation. It doesn’t say anything about an election.
The biblical account is a fearful thing for most people. But we have human leaders in the United States who are looking down from on high as if it has already come to pass. It’s really not surprising that their candidate presumes Jesus wants to count the vote in a US election in 2024.
I have a few questions: Does Jesus need billionaires and flawed candidates to influence the world? Does God need corrupt Supreme Court Justices to rule for him? If Jesus is running this show, why did we have to endure all the long months of drama, lies, manipulation and threats? And why now, after 248 years of secular governance? If they’re so superior, why can’t they work within the system?
I think I know why. This is all happening because 21st century progressives came up with their own plan. That’s how conservatism works. Conservatives don’t have a plan until someone else comes forward with new ideas. No wonder the whole enterprise seems patched together like a super-hero fantasy. Trump knows exactly who is helping him, and Jesus isn’t on the donor list.