Donald Trump released a video on his Truth Social platform  urging his supporters to buy a Bible he labeled “the “God Bless the USA Bible.”  He promoted it with a sales pitch:   “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible.” Trump  directed his supporters to his website selling the book for $59.99. Trump went on to urge the purchase by claimimg  his belief that: “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast.” Trump claimed  in the promotional video that he had “many Bibles at home”  and that  “It’s my favorite book.” He added: “It’s a lot of people’s favorite book.”

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, responded: “Happy Holy Week, Donald,” she wrote. “Instead of selling Bibles, you should probably buy one. And read it, including Exodus 20:14 (The Ten Commandments)”

Door to door peddling of Bible’s was  common during depression years and even after. The 1973 movie Paper Moon starring Ryan O’Neal and his daughter Tatum involved the practice. The film deals with the  1936 depression and O’Neal playing the role of a door-to-door con man Bible salesman. He preys on recent widows he learns about by reading the  local newspaper.  He would then go their house and  falsely claims their deceased husband had ordered an expensive Bible from the company he says he works for. He tells them he is there to deliver the Bible, inscribed with their names, and to collect the purchase price owed.

It is hard accept the fact that any former president of the United States would resort to selling Bibles on TV to raise money for their personal use.  On other hand, this former president has a unique legal and personal history. From the 1970s until he was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over 4,000 legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts, including battles with casino patrons, million-dollar real estate lawsuits, personal defamation lawsuits, and over 100 business tax disputes.

His history includes the fact NY state sued Trump alleging his Trump University defrauded more than 5,000 people. Trump was found personally liable. His $25 million settlement in the Trump University suit followed six years of litigation. After Trump became president, he was impeached — and acquitted — over allegations that he solicited foreign interference in the U.S. presidential election Then Trump was impeached — and acquitted — a second time for incitement of the January 6th attack on the Capital. New York again sued Trump alleging he falsely inflated assets to mislead lenders. He is also under criminal investigation the January 6th events and his handling of classified documents. In 2024 so far, he’s suffered more than half a billion dollars in court penalties. And in New York, he stands charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump agreed to pay a $750,000 penalty to settle a suit with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for violating antitrust laws over stock trades he made in 1986. In 2015, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network imposed a $10 million civil penalty on the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort for violating the Bank Secrecy Act from 2010 to 2012. He owes $464 Million in judgments against him. This is only a partial list of  the moral lessons Trump failed to learn while he read his “favorite book,” the Bible.

In June of 1954 the U.S. Senate was holding  hearings involving claims of Communists in the military. The hearing was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. McCarthy had gained national fame with his claims of Communist Party members in government and in the military.  It’s significant that McCarthy’s right hand, dirty tricks henchman  was Roy Cohn, later Trump’s long time lawyer and legal advisor. Joseph Welch, a Boston lawyer represented the Army at the hearings. During the hearing  McCarthy attacked a Welch’s  legal associate helping him at the hearing by falsely claiming the associate belonged to a Communist organization. Welch was enraged by the accusation and said to McCarthy: “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness…. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?  This confrontation was seen by the millions of people watching the hearing on live TV and began McCarthy’s political downfall in disgrace. Attorney Welch’s reaction is what every morally correct person and American ought to have to former president of the United States Donald Trump trying to raise money for his personal use by selling Bibles on television: “Have you no sense of decency at long last?”