Trump to Biden: Hands off my savior shtick

Trump.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"In this country," President Trump said Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, "we don't look to career politicians for salvation. In America, we don't turn to government to restore our souls. We put our faith in almighty God." After a long applause break, he continued: Democratic nominee "Joe Biden is not a savior of America's soul. He is a destroyer of American jobs, and, if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness."

Trump's phrasing and themes here are reminiscent of two memorable lines which bookended his 2016 campaign — lines which suggest Trump has no problem with a politician playing savior, so long as the politician is him.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.