Trump compares himself to Jesus Christ

Donald Trump bizarrely compares himself to Jesus Christ during bombshell court hearing
Story by Chris Samuel •

03/25/24

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Donald Trump Attends Hearing For Hush-Money Criminal Trial
Donald Trump Attends Hearing For Hush-Money Criminal Trial
© Getty
Donald Trump's Truth Social account shared a message purportedly from a supporter comparing the former President to Jesus - during his critical pre-trial hearing in the New York hush money case on Monday.

Trump is not using his phone in the courtroom, so it appears it was posted by his team.


The post drew parralels between the lives of Trump and Jesus of Nazareth, writing: "It's ironic that Christ walked through His greatest persecution the very week they are trying to steal your property from you."

Trump described the sentiment as "beautiful."

A New York judge is weighing in on when, or even whether, the former president will go on trial after a postponement due to a last-minute document dump.

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Former President Donald Trump Attends Pre-Trial Hearing In New York Hush Money Case
Former President Donald Trump Attends Pre-Trial Hearing In New York Hush Money Case
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The hearing is taking place instead of the long-planned start of jury selection in the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial. The trial has been put off until at least mid-April because of the recent delivery of tens of thousands of pages of records from a previous federal investigation.


Trump's lawyers argue the delayed disclosures warrant dismissing the case or at least pushing it off three months. Prosecutors say there's little new material in the trove and no reason for further delay.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchan has summoned both sides to court Monday to explain what happened, so he can evaluate whether to fault or penalize anyone and decide on the next steps.

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Trump is charged with falsifying business records. Manhattan prosecutors say he did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what Trump says were false stories of extramarital sex.

The case centers on allegations that Trump falsely logged $130,000 in payments as legal fees in his company's books "to disguise his and others' criminal conduct," as Bragg's deputies put it in a court document.

The money went to Trump's then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, but prosecutors say it wasn't for actual legal work. Rather, they say, Cohen was just recouping money he'd paid porn actress Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf so she wouldn't publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier.

Trump's lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff. He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him, but they never charged Trump with any crime related to the matter.

Cohen is now a key witness in Manhattan prosecutors' case against Trump.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing, saying the prosecution is politically driven bunk. The prosecutor overseeing the case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is a Democrat.

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Trump compares himself to Jesus Christ – again
Story by Gustaf Kilander •

03/26/24
© AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trump took to Truth Social to once again compare himself to Jesus Christ as he complained about the criminal and civil cases against him, which he views as politically motivated persecution.

On Monday, Mr Trump claimed that he received a message stating: “It’s ironic that Christ walked through His greatest persecution the very week they are trying to steal your property from you.”


“Beautiful, thank you!” Mr Trump responded, seemingly moved by the message that his $464m fine for decades of financial fraud is on the same level as the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fine stems from a civil case in which New York State prosecuted Mr Trump for inflating the value of his assets to get better deals on loans and insurance.
Mr Trump’s Truth Social post came as he was in court for a hearing in the hush money case involving adult actor Stormy Daniels. Mr Trump faces dozens of counts of business fraud for allegedly filing a hush money payment as legal expenses after he directed his then-fixer Michael Cohen to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 to stay silent about an alleged 2006 affair during the final stretches of the 2016 campaign. Mr Trump has rejected all notions of wrongdoing and has been attempting to delay all the cases against him. The start of the hush money trial has now been set for 15 April.

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The supposed sender of the message also included a verse saying, “They have also surrounded me with words of hatred – and fought against me without a cause – In return for my love they are my accusers ... let an accuser stand at his right hand – when he is judged – let him be found guilty – and let his prayer become sin – let his days be few – and let another take his office”.


It was unclear if Mr Trump believed that the last line was intended to refer to President Joe Biden, but the former president has repeatedly claimed that he’s being prosecuted because he’s standing in the way of the authorities going after his supporters.

The message Mr Trump shared said, “Thank you again for taking the arrows intended for us”.

The verse shared was Psalm 109, which members of the Christian right have been using as a rallying cry since at least the early days of the Obama presidency, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

“The verse immediately following the psalm referenced is a bit more ominous: ‘Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow’,” the outlet noted in November 2009, less than a year into president Barack Obama’s time in office.

Deborah Lauter, the then-director of civil rights at the Anti-Defamation League, told The Monitor at the time that “the problem is you don’t know if people who are donning that message in a shirt or on a bumper sticker are fully aware of the quote or what follows. Obviously, that message makes the ambiguity disappear”.

“If they’re just referring to him being out of office, that’s one thing. If they’re referring to him being dead, that’s so offensive. It’s protected speech, but it’s clearly offensive,” she added.

Robert Reich, who served as Bill Clinton’s labour secretary, wrote on X that “Donald Trump is starting the week by comparing himself to Jesus. Whether he has an [actual] messiah complex or is just conning his supporters, he’s playing to a growing GOP faction that wants America to be [a] white Christian Nationalist state, with Donald Trump as a divine ruler”.

The Biden campaign also issued a statement slamming Mr Trump, calling him “weak and desperate both as a man and a candidate”.

“He spent the weekend golfing, the morning comparing himself to Jesus, and the afternoon lying about having money he definitely doesn't have,” the campaign said.


“America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump,” they added.

Mr Trump has compared himself to Jesus in the past, such as when he reposted an AI image last year showing a court sketch of Jesus sitting beside Mr Trump in a courtroom during one of his many legal proceedings.

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