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The Threat Behind Trump’s Bible-Waving Photo-Op
It wasn’t just offensive; it was a strike against the Constitution
I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.— Thomas Jefferson, 1802
Perhaps you too were appalled by Trump’s photo-op on May 30
There was plenty about it to spark outrage: the spectacle of mostly peaceful protesters being routed by tear gas, smoke grenades, and chemical spray wielded by riot officers — on the orders of the attorney general (who denies that he gave the order because he is one of the foremost disciples of Facts Don’t Matter) — to clear the way for the Current Occupant to scuttle across Lafayette Square; Ivanka carrying her designer Bible-toting purse; the military and law enforcement leaders surrounding Fearless Leader; and finally, Trump standing grim-faced in front of St. John’s Church, holding said Bible aloft. All for a three-minute photo-op.
A reporter asked Trump, “Is that your Bible?”
To which our Fearless Leader replied, “It’s a Bible.”
