Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock weighs in on Trump's latest grift. Warnock was asked about Trump's so-called "God Bless The USA Bibles" during an appearance on CNN this Sunday, and he had a warning for Trump. Be careful what you wish for. The people who buy those Bibles might actually open them up and read them.
Here's their exchange after Bash first played a clip of Trump hawking the book and telling everyone "We must make America pray again."
BASH: The group selling that Bible says it paid to license Trump's name and image, which means he's making money off the sales. What do you make of that?
WARNOCK: The Bible doesn't -- not need Donald Trump's endorsement.
And Jesus in the very last week of his life chased the money changers out of the temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace. The sad thing is that none of us are surprised by this. This is what we expect from the former president.
If he's not selling us steaks, he's selling us a school whose degree is not worth the paper that is written on. If he's not selling us a school, he's selling us sneakers. And now he's trying to sell the Scriptures.
At the end of the day, I think he's trying to sell the American people a bill of goods. And that worked in 2016, although he did not win the popular vote even in 2016. It did not work in 2020. And I don't think it's going to work in 2024.
BASH: I don't know if you have seen, but this Bible that Donald Trump is selling also includes the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Constitution.
Experts say that this is in line with a growing embrace on the right of Christian nationalism, which is the idea that the United States should be a Christian country.
What do you think about that movement and Trump's apparent embrace of it?
WARNOCK: Well, I'm a proud American. I love my country. And one of the tenets of my country that I love is the separation of church and state.
And so I try to use my faith and the values derived there from to participate in a pluralistic democracy that embraces the great tenets, I think, that are lifted up by many faith traditions, love, justice, equity, compassion for the neighbor.
Donald Trump is doing what he's always done. And, this time, it's a risky bet, because the folks who buy those Bibles might actually open them up, where it says things like, thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not bear false witness, where it warns about wolves dressed up in sheep's clothing.
I think you ought to be careful. This is risky business for somebody like Donald Trump.