CLINTON, IOWA - JANUARY 06: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives for a rally at Clinton Middle School on January 06, 2024 in Clinton, Iowa. Iowa Republicans will be the first to select their party's nomination for the 2024 presidential race when they go to caucus on January 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A new video depicting former U.S. President Donald Trump as a messianic figure has spurred controversy within Iowa’s evangelical community.
This video is called “God Made Trump.” It imitates Paul Harvey’s famous “So God Made a Farmer” video.
On January 5, a week before the Iowa Republican caucuses, Trump posted the video on his Truth Social account.
“‘GOD MADE TRUMP,'” he wrote in the caption.
The video had a piano score and started with a narrator speaking seriously.
“And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise, and said, ‘I need a caretaker,'” the video’s narrator stated while a black-and-white clip showing a view of the Earth was played. “So God gave us Trump.”
“God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country. Work all day. Fight the Marxists. Eat supper,'” the narrator continued. “‘Then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight at a meeting of the heads of state.’ So God made Trump.”
“‘I need somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle the deep state, and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to ruffle the feathers. Tame cantankerous World Economic Forum. Come home hungry,” the speaker then stated. “Have to wait until the First Lady is done with lunch with friends. Then tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon and mean it.’ So God gave us Trump.”
“‘I need somebody who can shape an ax but wield a sword. Who had the courage to step foot in North Korea. Who can make money from the tar of the sand turned liquid to gold. Who understands the difference between tariffs and inflation,'” the narrator went on to say. “‘Will finish this 40-hour week by Tuesday noon, but then put in another 72 hours.’ So God made Trump.”
The speaker then takes aim at the news media.
“God had to have somebody willing to go into the den of vipers,” the narrator stated. “Call out the fake news for their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s,” the video’s narrator declared. “The poison of vipers is on their lips. And yet. Stop. So God made Trump.”
The narrator then paraphrased the Bible.
“God said, ‘I need somebody who will be strong and courageous, who will not be afraid or terrified of the wolves when they attack a man who cares for the flock,'” the speaker stated. “‘A shepherd to mankind who won’t ever leave nor forsake them. I need the most diligent worker to follow the path and remain strong in faith and know the belief of God and country. Somebody who is willing to drill, bring back manufacturing and American jobs. Farm the lands. Secure our borders. Build our military. Fight the system all day and finish a hard week’s work by attending church on Sunday.'”
“And then his oldest son turns and says, ‘Dad, let’s make America great again. Dad, let’s build back a country to be the envy of the world again’,” the narrator added. “So God made Trump.”
The video was made by the Dilley Meme Team, a group of online content creators separate from the Trump campaign, though they do work in close contact with it.
The group has labeled itself “Trump’s Online War Machine.” It has caused controversy due to its crude and sexist content.
“I find it absolutely sickening, period,” Michael Demastus, pastor of the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ, stated in response to this video. “Trump is not the Messiah. Many other evangelical pastors find that video offensive.”
“Christians have no right to be offended by anything since Christ went to the cross totally innocent for us guilty sinners,” Terry Amann, pastor of the Church of the Way in Des Moines, said. “That being said, (the video) demeans Christianity, Trump and the people who made it. It says a lot about the people around Trump and their ‘worldly’ understanding of Christianity.”
On January 15, Iowa Republicans will cast their votes in the state party’s caucuses. To win the Iowa caucuses, candidates must win over evangelicals.
Trump is overwhelmingly favored among evangelical voters. He received enormous support from white conservative evangelicals in 2016 and 2020.
Evangelicals have praised him for securing a conservative super majority Supreme Court which ended federal protections for abortion by invalidating Roe v. Wade.
Iowa’s top evangelical leader, Bob Vander Plaats, said that he was doubtful that Trump would win Christian voters in this state.
Trump’s main rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, predicted that if Trump were to lose the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary, he would still declare that the election was “stolen.”
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