The list of Donald Trump’s money-making schemes is not short. Sure, the gold sneakers and the NFT trading cards stand out as some of the more recent and cringeworthy examples, but we don’t have to look back too far into the recent past to find a series of related grifts.
Remember Trump University? And Trump Steaks? And the Trump board game? How about the former president selling off pieces of the suit he wore while taking his mug shot after one of his criminal indictments?
It’s against this backdrop that the Republican has a new product he’s apparently eager to peddle. NBC News reported:
Donald Trump on Tuesday started promoting a line of pricey Bibles in a partnership with country music star Lee Greenwood, whose song “God Bless the U.S.A.” is omnipresent at the former president’s political rallies.
Before we dig in on the latest product, it’s worth pausing to note that this is a topic that the former president probably ought to avoid. After all, his background on scriptural matters is somewhat problematic: Asked whether he was drawn more to the New or Old Testaments, Trump replied, “Both.” Asked about his favorite Bible passage, he struggled.
And, of course, there was also the whole “Two Corinthians” incident.
But putting that aside, the presumptive GOP nominee released a new video this week — just in time for Good Friday, Easter, and Passover — alongside text that read, “Let’s Make America Pray Again.” (How he intends to “make” people worship remains unclear.)
As part of the pitch, Trump encouraged his followers to spend $59.99 — not including shipping and applicable taxes — on the “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible.” It includes a copy of a King James translation of scripture — which, incidentally, is available for free from a variety of sources — along with the text of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, all of which are also available for free from a variety of sources.
What do the United States’ founding documents have to do with the Christian Bible? Effectively nothing. Why would people pay $59.99 for free texts? Your guess is as good as mine.
Nevertheless, according to the website where the “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” is being sold, this is “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump.” It’s also the only Bible that will reportedly put money in the former president’s pocket: The New York Times reported, “Though Mr. Trump is not selling the Bible, he is getting royalties from purchases, according to a person familiar with the details of the business arrangement.” It’s not a secret that the Republican’s finances are a mess, and a Washington Post analysis added, “He is in a cash crunch — personally and politically — and has been unafraid throughout his career to put the Trump name on anything that might yield a stream of revenue.” Evidently, that now includes holy texts, packaged with secular political documents.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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