Trump Did Not Pray

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A leader addresses the entire nation, instructing law enforcement to dominate the streets against widespread protests. The leader then walks to a church, his path already cleared of peaceful protestors with the use of rubber bullets and smoke bombs. The leader finally poses for the cameras, holding the bible high with one hand as if to proclaim victory. If this narrative took place in a different country, the U.S. would promptly label the leader as a dictator – one who abuses his power to protect his image, possessing little regard for the right to free speech and protest. But this narrative actually took place in the U.S., and the leader was President Trump. 

One week following the death of George Floyd, President Trump addressed the nation from the White House. Instead of speaking about the persistence of police brutality against Black Americans, Trump stressed the urgent need to deploy the National Guard to control the seemingly “violent” Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Minutes later, Trump walked across Lafayette Square toward St. John’s Church, which was damaged the previous night during protests. There, Trump posed for a photo-op, peering through the lens and wearing a stone expression. While the photograph was a tool in rallying Trump’s supporter base and sending a message to looters that they will not prevail, it is also apparent that Trump is covering his long history of bigotry in a mantle of faith. His inaction in addressing structural racism along with the events that led to photo-op makes the image incredibly unsettling and divisive for viewers across the political spectrum, notably those of Christian faith. 

Trump’s photo was effective in appealing to his true believers through the symbolism of “Law and Order” but more importantly, the use of St. John’s Church as a backdrop. At that time, the conservative media had framed the nationwide protests as an act of insurrection and destruction. While major right-leaning news networks such as Fox News depicted rioters looting and vandalizing property, these networks largely ignored the peaceful protests that “constituted the majority” of the Black Lives Matter Movement (Asmelash, 2020). Conservatives who depend on these networks for information would subsequently develop the same belief that these protests were mostly violent. As the most influential Republican, Trump capitalized on these sentiments by demanding for “Law and Order” during a press conference and later taking a compelling photograph symbolizing this notion. His facial expression in the photograph is one that displays determination. Other elements that demonstrate conviction includes Trump’s posture of standing up straight and having his arm raised. From the point of view of a conservative observer, this photograph also conveys a message of leadership – their President is poised in his task to restore order throughout the country. Individuals attribute the photograph to other iconic moments in history, including when Winston Churchill inspected the bombing damage in the House of Commons during World War II (Roscoe, 2020). But furthermore, Trump’s supporters are drawn to the photo due to its proximity to religion. The “Christian Right” has always been a fervent supporter of Trump at the ballot box (Teague, 2020). This group has been content with Trump’s agenda in appointing more conservative judges and fighting reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights. But to see their President holding up the Bible in front of a church elicits a different type of response. It is a response that believes Trump is in a divine fight against evil. They see their “Law and Order” President and may say to themselves that God is on their side. This is dangerous given how these sentiments relate to the imperfect idealism of American destiny though the photograph is still successful in garnering support from Trump’s supporter base. 

In an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump stated that while “most religious leaders loved [the photo], it’s only the other side that didn’t like it” (Roscoe, 2020). The other side includes the Democrats who tend to dislike Trump. However, this group (along with other individuals across the political spectrum) place an emphasis on the events that led up to the photo-op. A few hours before the photograph was taken, heavily armed federal troops cleared peaceful protestors to make way for the President. They beat the protestors with batons and dispersed chemical irritants and smoke bombs. Five civilians were injured and 54 arrests were made for a three minute photo-op (Glasser, 2020). In a way, these events echoed Trump’s call for the national guard to control the protests since he used his own personal law enforcement to clear his path to St. John’s Church. Many supporters of Trump did not know about this narrative. This is the most significant piece of context that separates viewing the photo as a sign of leadership and viewing the photo with disgust, knowing that Trump abused his authority against peaceful protestors.

However, the importance of context in perceiving Trump’s photo extends beyond the events that took place leading up to the photo-op. Trump “did not pray” at St. Johns Church (Chappell, 2020). Trump did not go inside the church before or after the photo-op, and he did not ask the diocese for permission to have a photo-op. Trump had broken a long presidential tradition of visiting St. John’s Church and offering condolences to those who are grieving. Instead, he used the Bible and the church’s symbols “as a prop” (Chappell, 2020). Though there is nothing particularly new about politicized images involving religion – such as the abolition movement – Trump is hiding his repeated history of racism and calls for militaristic nationalism, agendas that go against the church’s teachings that uphold compassion and loving one’s neighbor (Bass, 2020). The function of the photo goes most in line with that of a campaign-ad: to divert attention away from a sensitive topic that a candidate wants to avoid and directing energy to something that the candidate wants to flauntchampion. In this case, Trump seeks not to comfort the nation following the death of George Floyd – instead, he wants to crack down on violent protests. And by doing so, Trump divides the nation further. He uses the symbols of the church to divide the members of Christian faith from one another. His inaction and words divide those who are complicit to racism and systemic injustice from those who have banded together to spread awareness about these issues. 

The photograph of Trump in front of St. John’s Church was a methodical tool that effectively elicited praise from his supporter base. They saw a man on a divine mission who was determined to restore law and order in the country. But others saw a man “not with grace but with a sword”, who purposely converted a place of reconciliation to a site of domination (Bass, 2020). During a time when political unison and healing was needed, Trump brought further division through his inaction and imagery.

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Citations

Asmelash, L. (2020, July 26). How Black Lives Matter went from a hashtag to a global rallying cry. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/26/us/black-lives-matter-explainer-trnd/index.html. 

Bass, D. B. (2020, June 4). As a Christian and a human being, I was appalled by TRUMP’S CHURCH photo op. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/opinions/trump-st-johns-visit-isnt-religion-butler-bass/index.html. 

Chappell, B. (2020, June 2). ‘He Did Not Pray’: Fallout Grows From Trump’s Photo-Op At St. John’s Church. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/02/867705160/he-did-not-pray-fallout-grows-from-trump-s-photo-op-at-st-john-s-church. 

Glasser, S. B. (2020, June 3). Donald Trump’s Photo-Op War. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/bunkerboys-photo-op-war.

Mills, D. (2020). The authorities used riot-control tactics to disrupt peaceful protests outside the White House to clear a path for President Trump’s walk to St. John’s Church [Photograph]. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/us/politics/trump-holds-bible-photo.html 

Rascoe, A. (2020, June 3). Trump Defends ‘Law And Order’ Symbolism Of Photo-Op At St. John’s Church. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/03/868779265/trump-defends-symbolism-of-photo-op-at-st-johns-church. 

Teague, M. (2020, June 3). ‘He wears the armor of God’: evangelicals hail Trump’s church photo op. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/03/donald-trump-church-photo-op-evangelicals.