March 27, 2024 02:29 PM UTC

Now Trump's Selling For-Profit Bibles

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Washington Post’s Philip Bump reports, though the word is spreading excitedly throughout Christendom:

On Tuesday, [Donald Trump] announced a promotion that might endear him even further to the central Christian text: a “God Bless the USA” Bible, some of the proceeds of which will flow back to him…

The promoted Bible has not only the standard books, but also a few additions including the Constitution (“which I’m fighting for every single day very hard,” Trump says in a video attached to the post), the Pledge of Allegiance and, as the webpage touts, the “[h]andwritten chorus to ‘God Bless The USA’ by Lee Greenwood.” It was originally slated for release in 2021, but an outcry from a number of prominent Christians derailed the rollout.

That was then. The current website for the book includes an FAQ that addresses the question of how the former president benefits from the partnership. It assures visitors that no money from the sale of the Bibles will go to Trump’s political campaign. Instead, “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”

And that’s important, because:

CIC Ventures, though, is a conduit to Trump — personally, if not politically. In his financial disclosure released last year, he’s identified as the company’s “manager, president, secretary and treasurer” and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is identified as a 100 percent owner of the business. The same entity also receives royalties from his book “A MAGA Journey” and speaking engagements. A person familiar with the agreement confirmed to the New York Times that Trump earns royalties from purchases.

Although a copy of the Bible can be had on Amazon for around $4, or even for free if you’re willing to have missionaries over to add their sales pitch to the scripture, The Donald Trump “God Bless The USA” Bible sells for $60–leaving plenty of room for a healthy cut for Donald Trump to reap personally. It’s not like it’s easy at this point to separate Trump’s personal finances from the campaign shelling out millions on Trump’s manifold legal defense, but now the MAGA faithful are being asked to donate directly to Trump’s wallet for a Bible with an Americana section.

The crazy part is, thousands probably will! We hope they get their Bibles faster than the Trump sneakers are supposed to ship.

As for a Bible with the Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Lee Greenwood?

Profit motive aside, Christians outside of the United States of America (there are a lot of them if you haven’t heard) might not appreciate the “America First” appropriation of their holy book.