Donald Trump by the Numbers - An Appeal to Christians

If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (Matthew 6:23, Jesus quoted from his sermon on the mount).                                                     

Back in 2008, my wife of 22 years filed for divorce and left me. The experience was so profound and jolting that it forced me to humble and examine myself far more deeply than ever before. What I discovered was sobering, i.e., I came to realize I was a self-righteous, judgmental, and often mean-spirited prick. The light I thought I had was actually very deep darkness, and I have spent the past 17 years rectifying that.

What does this have to do with Donald Trump, you might ask? A lot. Sadly, I’m seeing the same spiritual blindness in far too many Christians that I eventually saw in me. The unwavering support that Donald Trump receives from these Christians is mind numbing in light of his utterly ungodly character/behavior. As evidence, consider the following snapshot of Donald Trump “by the numbers.”

1. $3,400,000,000,000 added to the national debt over the next 10 years due to tax cuts for wealthy Americans in the big beautiful bill.

2. $1,600,000,000 in outside revenue and income made by Donald Trump during his first term in office.

3. $1,340,000,000 estimated fines and victim restitution wiped out by pardons of 24 people convicted of federal crimes.

4. $354,800,000 fraud judgement.

5. $83,300,000 defamation judgement.

6. $30,000,000 spent on an unnecessary military parade.

7. $25,000,000 Trump University fraud settlement.

8. $5,000,000 sexual abuse liability judgement.

9. $2,000,000 damages paid for misuse of charity funds.

10. $1,600,000 fine levied against Trump Organization for 17 felony convictions.

11. 14,000,000 people projected to die due to the dismantling of USAID.

12. 275,000+ federal employees hastily laid off in first seven months of Trump administration, not counting federal contractors.

13. 30,573 false or misleading claims during his first presidential term.

14. 4,095 lawsuits over three decades.

15. 1,600 (nearly) convicted January 6 rioters granted clemency.

16. 400+ times pleading the 5th in a New York civil fraud deposition.

17. 87 criminal charges.

18. 61 out of 62 Trump and Trump supporter lawsuits lost in an effort to overturn the 2020 election.

19. 51 out of his first 209 days in office golfing in his second term.

20. 34 felony convictions.

21. 27 sexual misconduct allegations.

22. 20 Inspectors General (i.e., oversight people) fired in his first 6 months of his second term. 

23. 15 business failures, NOT counting bankruptcies.

24. 10 pardons for people convicted of seditious conspiracy.

25. 8 trips on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane.

26. 7 pardons and sentence commutations for people convicted of murder or manslaughter.

27. 6 bankruptcies.

28. 4 criminal indictments by four different grand juries with a total of 85-to-92 grand jurors.

29. 3 marriages, 2 divorces, and numerous reports of infidelity and abuse.

30. 2 impeachments.

31. 1 attempt to incite the violent overthrow of the US government.

32. 1 porn star slept with while married with a newborn child.

33. 1 affair with a Playboy Playmate while married with a newborn child.

34. 1 university shut down because of fraud.

35. 1 charity shut down for misusing donations.

36. 1 claim that E. Jean Carroll loved being sexually assaulted by him.

37. 1 man freed who murdered three people.

38. 1 sexual assault lawsuit – eventually dropped – alleging the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

39. 1 recording boasting about sexually assaulting women.

40. 1 notorious/prolific pedophile and sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, considered Donald Trump his “closest friend” for 10 years and Donald Trump called him a “terrific guy”.

41. 1 apparent coordinated cover-up of the Epstein files which he promised countless times to release.

42. 1 highly unusual move of a child sex offender/trafficker to a minimum-security prison.

43. 0 big, beautiful walls along the entire Mexican border, paid for by Mexico.

44. 0 better and cheaper healthcare for everyone.

45. 0 ends to the Ukraine war promised on day one.

46. 0 promised dramatic debt reduction during first term.

47. 0 times testifying in his defense at his fraud trial.

48. Uncountable insults, many collected and tallied.

49. Hundreds of false claims that the 2020 was rigged, stolen, fraudulent, etc.

50. Dozens of disparaging comments about service members and the US military.

51. Dozens of threats of violence.

52. Numerous broken laws and/or violations of the Constitution in his second term.

53. Several different attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including inciting the J6 riot.

Addressing the church in Rome, the apostle Paul wrote, “You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God be breaking it. No wonder the scriptures say, ‘The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you’” (Romans 2:23-24).

Christian support for Donald Trump has caused countless non-Christians to scoff at/mock God and the Christian faith. Why would anyone be open to the Good News after seeing so many Christians idolize such a horrible man?

I pray that any Christians who bristle at this post would pause and deeply/humbly examine themselves and their motivations – and do so over many days and weeks. I also invite you to read my previous blogpost on our responsibility to stand up to leaders/politicians who abuse their office and use their power for their own aggrandizement.

Photo source: Trump: ‘I Had the Best Environmental Numbers Ever’ - Heatmap News