Just the incoming president, hawking Bibles in an ad on Fox News. (Philip Bump column, WaPo)

What rough beasts start violent riots, sign Bibles and euchre money and votes from the Booboisie with fetid feculent phony religiosity?  Pray for these Pharisees. 

Just the incoming president, hawking Bibles in an ad on Fox News

Donald Trump’s myriad side deals were odd when he was a candidate. They are downright bizarre — and disconcerting — when he’s the incoming president.

December 20, 2024 at 12:23 p.m. ESTYesterday at 12:23 p.m. EST

5 min

A photo of former president Donald Trump surviving an assassination attempt is displayed next to Bibles for sale at the Baird Center during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15. ( Joel Angel Juarez for The Washington Post)

Column by Philip Bump

Viewers tuning into Fox News on Thursday afternoon were treated to an ad that was unquestionably well-targeted: former president Donald Trump, the man who will be president again in one month, encouraging them to spend $60 on the “God Bless the USA” Bible.

The ad, shared by journalist Aaron Rupar on social media, can most concisely be summarized as “schlocky.” It centers on Trump speaking directly to the camera, using his sedate, reading-from-the-teleprompter voice to encourage Fox News viewers to buy what was once presented as the “ultimate American Bible.”

“We love God, and we have to protect anything that is pro-God,” the infamously areligious former president asserts as a plinky piano version of “O, Come All Ye Faithful” plays in the background. “We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor or discriminate against us. We have to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be, again, a great nation.”

Trump, wearing a festive red tie with white stripes, is shown standing in front of two American flags. In the foreground, computer-generated Christmas tree ornaments and streamers dangle from the top of the screen.

“There you have it,” Trump concludes. “Let’s make America pray again. God bless you, and God bless the USA.” A banner bearing a web address is shown — along with Trump’s signature, which is available in some editions of the Bible at a substantially increased cost. The only thing missing from the ad was a “supplies limited; call now” exhortation.

As you probably know, this is not a new product. The Bible was a relatively early entry in what is now an extensive line of Trump-endorsed products. And as is the case with many of those products (and many of the products Trump has endorsed over his career), it was not created by Trump and, instead, had the Trump brand applied after the fact.

Targeting the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the book’s melding of religion and patriotism did not get a warm reception in 2021. Singer Lee Greenwood (he of “God Bless the USA” fame) endorsed the product, prompting its current rebranding. And then Trump got $300,000 to be its salesman.

That the red-and-white tie he wears in the Fox News ad evokes a candy cane may simply be a coincidence. As it probably appears, the ad is simply a promotional video from Trump in March chopped up and Christmas-ified to take advantage of the holiday shopping season. You can see the original below — including the snippets excerpted for the new ad.

There is also a promotional video that came out in May. It takes a bit from the March video and a bit from a November promotion tied to “National Bible Week” — a promotion that appears to have been taped at the same time as the promotion from March.

In other words, the team behind the “God Bless the USA” Bible paid Trump a few hundred thousand dollars to record some promotional videos — and now it gets to target his robust fan base with a Christmas-season ad featuring the president-elect. The same team has a deal with Trump to sell guitars, but that promotion hit some snags.

The obvious question here is what advertisements for what products will air after Jan. 20. Trump is selling sneakers and digital images and cologne and all sorts of other things, along with his eponymous company’s hawking of real estate and golf club memberships. Can we expect ads for Trump sneakers to air on Fox News right before anchor Bret Baier sits down with the president to discuss the war in Ukraine? Will the Trump Bible ad run during a break in Sean Hannity’s show after he has just praised the sitting president’s support for Christian nationalism?

During Trump’s first term, there was a push to constrain his interactions with his private businesses, in large part out of concern that they might serve as vehicles for people to buy his influence. Trump and his family made some overtures in response to those criticisms, although not terribly robust ones. Now, even that lip service has been muted, with Republican leaders in Congress making clear that they aren’t planning to hold Trump to account on the issue.

What a boon for Greenwood and everyone else who signed a deal with Trump! You get to have the actual president promote your product! And who knows, maybe future products, too. After all, Trump entered new territory during his time away from the White House, offering little personal trinkets as inducements to buy Trump-branded products. Pick up a certain number of Trump NFTs, for example, and you got a piece of the suit he wore in his Georgia mug shot! Imagine the add-ons that will become available after his inauguration.

Speaking of, Trump is going to need a Bible for that ceremony. What an amazing cross-branding opportunity that presents.

By Philip Bump

Philip Bump is a Post columnist based in New York. He writes the newsletter How To Read This Chart and is the author of The Aftermath: The Last Days of the Baby Boom and the Future of Power in America.follow on X@pbump