Did God protect Donald Trump?

Plus: insane AI slop, the Founding Fathers and political violence, and more

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A take I haven’t written elsewhere

Did God protect Donald Trump?

(via)

If you’ve been on social media much since the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump this past Saturday, you’ve likely seen the claim: He survived the shooting because he was protected by God.

There are many, many posts and memes to this effect already. Some have tens of thousands of likes. A colleague spotted one with a glossy AI angel:

I’ve seen a simpler angel sketch widely reposted, and I also ran across former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy making this argument on Fox News. “I personally believe that God intervened today—not just on behalf of President Trump, but on behalf of our country,” he said. “I’m grateful that God stepped in tonight to save [Trump] for this country.” ¹

Did God step in to save Trump for this country?

I don’t know. I don’t rule out the possibility—I think God does act directly in the world. Imagining Trump’s death ending the United States, as Ramaswamy went on to do, strikes me as some TV nonsense, but we may well have seen very serious unrest. Maybe God did send an angel. Maybe God himself nudged that bullet off its course.

Or maybe he didn’t.