While former President Barack Obama was known by many on the progressive left as “the chosen one,” an increasing number of Christians now see the current commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, as anointed by God to lead the country.
In May, two professors who study religion and politics published the findings of a survey, showing that 49.5% of white Protestant Christians believe Trump was selected by God to be president.
CBN News’ David Brody asked Trump about the assertion during a recent interview.
“I almost don’t even want to think about it,” he said. “Because you know what, all I’m gonna do is, I hope it’s true. All I’m going to do is I’m going to do my best. And part of what I’m doing my best on is for the religious community beyond evangelical, evangelicals a very big part is very important to me.”
Trump went on to say he has “great support” among Christians, noting that the Rev. Franklin Graham revealed in December 2019 that his father, the late Rev. Billy Graham, voted for the Republican president.
“I was so honored when Franklin Graham said that his father voted for me,” said Trump. “And that was something that Billy Graham has never announced, who he was voting for. But Franklin Graham said his father voted for me. He went public with it. As you know, to me that was a big moment because I have such respect for Franklin and for the family and Billy Graham is really great.”
As far as the professors’ study, they told Fox News in May they were “quite surprised” to see so many church-going Christians admitting they believe Trump was anointed by God to be commander-in-chief.
“We were quite surprised by the result that 49 percent of those frequently attending worship services believed that Trump was anointed by God to be president,” said Ryan Burge, assistant professor of political science and graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University, and Paul Djupe, an associate professor of political science at Denison University in Ohio.
During trade talks with China last year, Trump joked with reporters that he was “the chosen one” before boarding a flight on Air Force One.
“When I looked up to the sky and jokingly said, ‘I am the chosen one,’ at a press conference two days ago, referring to taking on trade with China, little did I realize that the media would claim that I had a ‘Messiah complex,’” he tweeted at the time. “They knew I was kidding, being sarcastic.”