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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is known for many things: talking about a “Jewish space laser“; white supremacy; political violence; having a lawyer who was rude to Mother Jones in court; and possessing a seemingly bottomless fealty to former President Donald Trump.
She has continued the last of these with a particular tick in the last week: Comparing Trump to Jesus Christ.
At a rally in Las Vegas yesterday, Taylor Greene condemned those who are accurately describing Trump as a now-convicted felon, saying: “The Democrats and the fake news media constantly want to talk about, ‘oh, President Trump is a convicted felon.’ Well you want to know something? The man that I worship is also a convicted felon.” The crowd cheered. “And he was murdered on a Roman cross,” Taylor Greene continued.
This is not the first time the firebrand congresswoman has compared Trump to Jesus: She also did it last year, after Trump was arrested for the 34 felonies tied to the hush-money case for which he has since been found guilty. “President Trump is joining some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested, served time in prison. Jesus! Jesus was arrested and murdered,” Taylor Greene said.
Here at Mother Jones, despite what her lawyer says, we do try to keep to the facts. So, the question is: Is Trump like Jesus Christ?
Well, just yesterday, at the Vegas rally, he suggested the death penalty should be used for people who sell drugs; many Christians argue against the death penalty. Trump also has (at least) five kids by three different women; the Bible condemns divorce. The Bible decries sexual assault, which Trump was found liable for last year in the civil suit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll; it also prohibits adultery, and Trump’s hush-money trial centered on allegations he paid off porn star Stormy Daniels to stop her from telling her story about their alleged sexual encounter, which reportedly occurred when his wife Melania was home with their infant son.
Upon initial investigation: Low levels of similarity to Jesus.
Still, as I reported earlier this year, polling has found a majority of Republicans—not just MTG—believe Trump is a “person of faith.”
On Easter this year, Trump took to Truth Social to share articles from right-wing websites that call him a “miracle” and another implying he had been crucified. His evangelical and conservative Christian supporters have long flirted with his associations with Jesus, selling merchandise emblazoned with slogans like “Gods Guns and Trump” and “JESUS IS MY SAVIOR TRUMP IS MY PRESIDENT.”
“Thank God we’re here,” Michael McDonald, chair of the Nevada Republican Party, said at yesterday’s rally, “to worship and bring back the greatest president we’ve ever known in our generation!”
That is one comparison we can agree on: Both are beloved by those with a strong, almost hard to believe, faith.
