Every year during Barack Obama’s presidency, the Democrat made an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he’d deliver pensive, thought-provoking remarks about his Christian faith. And nearly every year, conservatives would express their outrage over the sophisticated ideas the then-president challenged them to consider.
There was, however, never any doubt about the theological foundations of the Democrat’s remarks. In 2011, for example, Obama explained how he “came to know Jesus Christ for myself and embrace Him as my lord and savior.”
As is true in so many areas of public life, things now are … different. The Boston Globe reported:
President Trump attacked Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, an outspoken critic of the president, during his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Thursday, calling him a ‘moron.’ […]
Trump then attacked Democrats in his speech saying, ‘I don’t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don’t.’ Later, Trump repeated his false claims that he won the popular vote in 2016 and that his 2020 loss to former president Joe Biden was ‘rigged.’
Over the course of roughly 75 minutes, the Republican turned the National Prayer Breakfast into a roast of sorts, lashing out at enemies, condemning immigrants, peddling absurd election conspiracy theories, expressing annoyance that House Speaker Mike Johnson wants to pray before meals, lying about the repeal of the Johnson Amendment (which still has not actually happened, no matter how many times Trump claims otherwise) — all while complaining about transgender people and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The president even took the opportunity to boast about the efficacy of the deadly military operations he’d ordered.
At another point, Trump decided it’d be a good idea to mock Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over the Democrat’s recent emphasis on honoring the Constitution.
Many will see this and think, “Well, yeah, this sounds like what Trump always does.” But therein lies the point: Context is irrelevant with this president. The same message he pushes at the Conservative Political Action Conference is the same message he peddles at the National Prayer Breakfast, which is the same message he brings to the United Nations. Those who assumed Trump would approach the National Prayer Breakfast with a degree of maturity or solemnity were kidding themselves: He has a void where his gravitas should be. Every speech, interview and appearance, public or private, is rooted in the same conspiratorial and grievance-filled foundation. The president was an embarrassment to himself on Thursday, not because he tried and failed to honor the occasion and to respect his audience, but because it apparently never occurred to him to bother in the first place.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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