MILWAUKEE: Donald Trump’s narrow brush with a would-be assassin’s bullet has further convinced his evangelical supporters he is blessed by God, reinforcing the messianic undertones of his populist presidential campaign.
Trump and his campaign have infused his candidacy with Christian imagery, prompting critics to accuse them of fostering a cult of personality with him as its leader, solely capable of saving an America he falsely portrays as crime-ridden and on the verge of collapse.
In interviews with 18 delegates on Monday at the Republican Party’s national convention in Milwaukee, all but two believed God had a hand in Trump’s escape from assassination.
Many said that divine intervention was God’s way of showing American voters that Trump, and not President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is the right man to occupy the White House after the election.
“To me, it was God-given protection,” said Sharon D. Regan, a Trump delegate from Florida. “It was miraculous. It was sent by heaven and I pray that protection continues.”
Trump himself cast his narrow escape as the work of God. On Sunday, the eve of his formal nomination as the Republican candidate, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
In both the 2016 and 2020 elections, evangelical voters staunchly supported Trump despite claims of adultery and sexual misconduct, which he denied. Critics in both political parties denounce him as immoral and set on dismantling democracy.
With Trump convicted in May for a hush money payment to a porn star and facing dozens of other criminal charges as he pursues a second term, some Christian media are portraying him as an instrument of God’s will being persecuted by internal foes.
Ray Myers, a Texas delegate, said: “There’s some kind of mystical thing going on. After everything he’s been through, everything that’s been thrown at him, and now he’s even shed his own blood. And he’s still here. I don’t know how else you can explain it, but God is involved.”
For voters who believe that Trump is anointed by God, Saturday’s attempted assassination is “another piece of the puzzle that fell into place,” said Paul Djupe, a political scientist at Denison University who specializes in religion and politics.
Djupe said the shooting helped affirm for those voters that “Trump is battling forces of evil on the other side, and it affirmed his special role as the protector of Christians against the vast forces of evil including Democrats.”
Trump and his followers frequently post images of Trump as a Christ-like figure on social media. T-shirts at his rallies also promote this idea, including one of Jesus laying his hands on Trump’s shoulders.
Melanie Collette, a New Jersey delegate, said there was a strong belief at the convention that “God interceded” to save Trump. But she cautioned: “We certainly don’t want to deify Donald Trump. That’s a cautionary tale for Christians.”
Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who is an outspoken critic of Trump, said he does not believe the deification of Trump among his supporters helps Trump in a general election.
“I think it frightens a lot of voters, that a lot of his supporters think he’s the messiah,” Madrid said.
Trump supporters see his narrow escape from death as God’s work
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Trump supporters see his narrow escape from death as God’s work
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Salman Rushdie’s memoir about his stabbing, ‘Knife,’ is a National Book Award nominee
The foundation announced the lists for young people’s literature and books in translations earlier in the week and will reveal the fiction nominees on Friday
NEW YORK: Salman Rushdie’s “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” his explicit and surprisingly resilient memoir about his brutal stabbing in 2022, is a nominee for the National Book Awards. Canada’s Anne Carson, one of the world’s most revered poets, was cited for her latest collection, “Wrong Norma.”
The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, released long lists of 10 Thursday for nonfiction and poetry. The foundation announced the lists for young people’s literature and books in translations earlier in the week and will reveal the fiction nominees on Friday. Judges will narrow the lists to five in each category on Oct. 1, and winners will be announced during a Manhattan dinner ceremony on Nov. 20.
Rushdie, 77, has been a literary star since the 1981 publication of “Midnight’s Children” and unwittingly famous since the 1988 release of “The Satanic Verses” and the death decree issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for the novel’s alleged blasphemy. But “Knife” brings him his first National Book Award nomination; he was a British citizen, based in London, for “Midnight’s Children” and other works and would have been ineligible for the NBAs. Rushdie has been a US citizen since 2016.
Besides “Knife,” the nonfiction list includes explorations of faith, identity, oppression, global resources and outer space, among them Hanif Abdurraqib’s “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension,” Rebecca Boyle’s “Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are” and Jason De León’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling.”
The other nonfiction nominees were: Eliza Griswold’s “Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church,” Kate Manne’s “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia,” Ernest Scheyder’s “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives,” Richard Slotkin’s “A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America,” Deborah Jackson Taffa’s “Whiskey Tender” and Vanessa Angélica Villarreal’s “Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders.”
Along with Carson’s “Wrong Norma,” poetry nominees include Pulitzer Prize winner Dianne Seuss’ latest, “Modern Poetry“; Fady Joudah’s elliptically titled “(...)”; Dorianne Laux’s “Life on Earth”; Gregory Pardlo’s “Spectral Evidence”; and Rowan Ricardo Phillips’ “Silver.”
Others on the poetry list were Octavio Quintanilla’s “The Book of Wounded Sparrows,” m.s. RedCherries’ “mother,” Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s “Something About Living” and Elizabeth Willis’ “Liontaming in America.”
Salman Rushdie’s “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” his explicit and surprisingly resilient memoir about his brutal stabbing in 2022, is a nominee for the National Book Awards. (Getty Images/AFP)
Britain’s crime minister has bag stolen at police conference
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- In her speech, Diana Johnson said Britain had been ‘gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting’
- Warwickshire Police said a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and released on bail in connection to the incident
LONDON: Britain’s police and crime minister had her bag stolen at a conference for senior and midranking police officers where she spoke about the growing problem of theft and shoplifting, a government official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred when Diana Johnson attended the Police Superintendents’ Association conference in central England on Tuesday where one senior officer told her in a speech that the criminal justice system was broken.
The official said Johnson had her bag stolen at the conference, but no security risk had been identified. In her speech, Johnson said Britain had been “gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting.”
The Home Office, or interior ministry, declined to comment.
Warwickshire Police said a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and released on bail in connection to the incident.
Britain has been hit by an increase in thefts and shoplifting in recent years. While overall crime has generally been decreasing, the number of thefts from individuals of items like bags and mobile phones rose by 40 percent in the year ending March, according to the Office for National Statistics.
This has contributed to public support for the police falling to record lows. A poll by YouGov earlier this year found more than half of the public do not trust the police to solve crimes, and over a third said they have no faith in the police to maintain law and order.
In her speech, Johnson announced plans to give more police officers training to tackle anti-social behavior after a “decade of decline.”
“Too many town centers and high streets across the country have been gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behavior, theft and shoplifting which is corroding our communities and cannot be allowed to continue,” she said.
Russian missile hit an Egypt-bound wheat cargo ship in Black Sea: Zelensky
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- “Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said
- There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike
KYIV: A Russian missile on Thursday morning hit an Egypt-bound cargo ship in the Black Sea carrying wheat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The Black Sea is a crucial trading route for Ukraine, one of the world’s largest agricultural producers and exporters, but was turned into a naval battleground when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Russian missile against a wheat cargo bound for Egypt ... Russia launched a strike on an ordinary civilian vessel in the Black Sea right after it left Ukrainian territorial waters,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.
There were no casualties from the attack, Zelensky added, urging global condemnation after the strike.
“Domestic stability and normal life in dozens of countries around the world are dependent on the normal and unhindered operation of our food expert corridor,” he said.
Moscow last year pulled out of a UN-brokered deal guaranteeing safe passage for Ukraine’s agricultural exports on the Black Sea, but Kyiv has carved out a maritime corridor allowing trade to continue.
Over 5,000 ships have sailed through the grain corridor since it was created, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said Wednesday.
Global food prices shot up when Russia invaded Ukraine amid fears conflict in the Black Sea would hobble global food supplies.
Sweden wants to pay immigrants up to $34,000 to return: govt
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- As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to $34,000
STOCKHOLM: Sweden's government said Thursday it would drastically increase grants for immigrants who choose to leave the country, in order to encourage more migrants to make the choice.
As of 2026, immigrants who voluntarily return to their home countries would be eligible to receive up to 350,000 Swedish kronor ($34,000), up from the current 10,000 kronor, the right-wing government, which is propped up by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, said in a statement.
Polish FM sees limit on influencing Iran after Russia missiles transfer
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- “The trouble for Poland is that Iran is already under such severe sanctions that there is not that much more that we can do,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said
- “I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran“
WARSAW: Poland’s foreign minister conceded Thursday that there were limits on how to influence Iran, already under heavy sanctions, after Tehran allegedly shipped short-range missiles to Russia to attack Ukraine.
Western powers this week imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector, including state carrier Iran Air, and Ukraine warned it may cut off relations with Tehran.
“The trouble for Poland is that Iran is already under such severe sanctions that there is not that much more that we can do,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said when asked if Poland, a staunch backer of Ukraine, would also sever ties.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Tuesday said that Russia could start firing the Iranian missiles into Ukraine within weeks.
Western powers had warned Iran against the move, and Sikorski noted that it came shortly after Iranians elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, seen as a reformist within the cleric-run state.
“I’m disappointed, because we have a new president of Iran. He’s supposedly not as aggressive as the previous butcher of Tehran,” Sikorski said.
“But the policy of sending missiles and drones to use against Ukraine and also using similar equipment against Israel seems to be continuing.”
Poland enjoys a long history with Iran, which took in thousands of Polish civilians during World War II.
But as a close US ally, it has joined pressure campaigns against Iran, including agreeing to host a 2019 conference encouraged by then president Donald Trump that pressured Tehran.