The current United States President, Donald Trump, is a manipulator.

It’s challenging to distinguish between campaigning and manipulation, but that distinction becomes glaring when one hateful campaign’s manipulation results in the most controversial political leader in the history of the U.S.

Despite the long list of Trump’s lies, our country and the Christians in it have re-elected him as our president. Whilst not the only tendentious presidential figure, he stands as one of the most well-documented liars we’ve seen in office.

Christians and U.S. citizens both need to recognize the manipulation tactics Trump uses so we can have clear, factual opinions on our president, which will protect our communities from being taken advantage of.

Trump’s History of Manipulation

Trump’s track record of manipulation has spanned both terms of his presidency. He’s been found making false claims both related to his office and not.

The statistics of Trump’s dishonesty are a clear indicator of his manipulation of the minds of U.S. citizens.

In a 64-minute press statement, NPR found that Trump made 162 false statements. Despite him spouting out a little over two lies a minute, U.S. citizens continue to support him and his campaign. One method he uses to keep the blind faith of his supporters is religion.

Trump uses Christianity to blind our eyes to cold, hard facts.

Taking advantage of his Christian voters and his skills in deceit, Trump claimed that the radical left wants to “tear down crosses where they can and cover them up with social justice flags.”

This is a classic example of catastrophizing. Trump is taking a small issue and making it into a large obstacle, and then claiming he’s the only one who can stop it. “No one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration.”

This catastrophizing is a classic manipulation tactic. It keeps Christians feeling weak and afraid, giving Trump power over them.

Trump’s Evangelical Disguise

Trump uses Christianity as leverage for his voters. At a conference in Florida, he even said, “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.”

There is a veil over the eyes of Christian Trump supporters that’s blocking out the truth.

This veil makes Trump the perfect candidate to them, regardless of any of his actions. He said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”

In his campaigning, Trump has made many promises that were left unfulfilled.

Trump’s false promises are especially reminiscent of a verse from Matthew 4:6, “All this I will give you,” [Satan] said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Despite the man’s similarities to Satan, Christians still made up 72% of his voters.

Psychologically, many Trump-favoring Republicans view Trump as more than a man, treating him as a savior.

This idolization makes it incredibly difficult to truthfully view him and his actions at a face-value level. With Trump’s carefully crafted persona, it becomes increasingly easy to blindly follow the man and his teachings.

The first commandment in the Bible is “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Christians, in their idolization of Trump, have betrayed this decree.

Much like how Saul’s disobedience of God had harsh consequences on those around him, one could argue that Christian disobedience has resulted in the direct punishment of U.S. citizens due to Trump’s discriminatory behavior.

System Justification Theory

Fear-mongering is a term that’s become popular when describing Trump’s presidential campaigning, for good reason.

System Justification Theory (SJT) suggests that when people feel their current way of life is threatened, they become motivated to defend and uphold the established economic, social and political systems.

This includes but isn’t limited to the systemic mistreatment of minorities within the U.S. If someone believes their system is under attack, they, to varying degrees, might deny the existence of injustice and any safeguards established to prevent said injustice.

One example of non-religious SJT in his campaign is his repeated portrayal of immigrants as villains. He creates the illusion that non-immigrant citizens are at risk. This has created an instability among non-immigrants.

Trump capitalizes on that insecurity, using the phrase “make America great again” to give people the stability they think they’re missing. In turn, some may turn a blind eye to the injustice around them, following the SJT model.

A core value of Christianity is compassion for others.

Despite this, only 51% of voters recognized Donald Trump as a racist, and only 60% of voters were against his impeachment. Recognizing the injustice that their fellow Americans face, voters are influenced by the fears that Trump both amplifies and claims to ease.

In classic SJT fashion, after the 2016 election, Trump supporters showed more racially dehumanizing beliefs toward Black people.

In the final steps of SJT, people will oppose any systems established to rectify injustice. This is seen in Trump’s presidency with his removal of DEI initiatives.

How To Make a Clear Assessment of Trump and His Behavior

It can be challenging to see past Trump’s smoke and mirrors, but we must acknowledge their existence. We have made a severe and continuous mistake by allowing someone who does not represent the ideologies of our country to serve as its face.

This isn’t to say that anyone running against Trump is was a perfect candidate. All presidential candidates must be viewed under the same scrutiny that we are now assessing Trump under.

Trump’s political reign has villainized and othered many communities, all of which exist in Utah.

If we had assessed Trump’s campaign with truth, many U.S. citizens would’ve been able to see his manipulative tactics, sparing our underrepresented communities from the discrimination they’re facing.

If we want to improve our country, we must be ready to factually assess our candidates, regardless of our personal party affiliation, for the safety and well-being of all Utahns and U.S. citizens.

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