Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (Donald Trump)

A question on people's mind as they watch the chaos of the current administration is, "How can evil be accepted as good by so many?" They also wonder, "How can lies be seen as truth?" When trying to answer a question we tend to dig deep and try to come up with some kind of profound answer. In reality, we can look to the simplicity of childhood to answer the seemingly unanswerable. 

A majority of people are familiar with the children's story about the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, an Aesop's fable. In the story, a wolf disguises himself as a sheep and the shepherd kills him. The story is an example of a fable, which is a story with a hidden lesson. The idiom "wolf in sheep's clothing" is used to describe someone who seems friendly but may be harmful. In the Bible, Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns against "false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves".

The phrase "Wolf in sheep's clothing" is an idiom that refers to someone who appears friendly or harmless on the surface, but in reality, they have a sinister or malicious nature. They hide their true intent from others. With Donald Trump entering the third week of his presidency, many are coming to the conclusion that he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. But that is not true for everyone who voted for him. At a first look, Trump's proverbial "sheep's clothing" was Christianity, and he wore it amongst the Evangelicals. Those outside of the Evangelical faith seemed to notice his wolf tendencies.

Donald Trump has lived his entire life in the headlines. He has been known as a mover and shaker in the business world. There is very little about his life that has not been written about and expounded on by Trump himself in hundreds of interviews. Donald Trump loves to talk about Donald Trump. If you comb through all of the magazine and tabloid articles, you will not read about Trump as a Christian, that is, until he wanted to become president.

Donald Trump was raised in his mother's Presbyterian faith; his father was a Lutheran. He attended Sunday school and was confirmed in 1959 at First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica. He said in 2015 that he attends Marble Collegiate Church, a Reformed Christian congregation in Manhattan; the church said in a statement to CNN that he "is not an active member". He said that he was a Presbyterian and a Protestant in 2016. Trump has officially run as a candidate for president four times, in 2000, 2016, 2020, and 2024; he also unofficially campaigned in 2012 and mulled a run in 2004.

A survey during Trump's first presidency showed that 63% of Americans did not believe he was religious, despite his professed Christian affiliation, and that only 44% of Americans believed that Trump was a Christian. But according to research data on the 2024 election, Trump's victory was largely due to the Christian vote. According to exit polling data from NBC, Trump expanded his margins for Christians identifying as “Protestant or other Christian” and Catholic. Of voters identifying as “Protestant or other Christian,” 63% went for Trump and 36% went for Harris. Trump made a bigger jump with Catholic voters against Harris, who is a Baptist. Exit polling shows Catholic voters broke for Trump by 58% to 40% for Harris. 

A majority of white Christians supported Trump in 2024, just as they did in 2020. White Christians identifying as “Protestant and other Christian” went for Trump 72% to 26%; in 2020 they supported Trump by 72% to 27%. White Catholics supported the Republican ticket 61% to 35% in 2024. In 2024, white born-again and evangelical Christians made up 27% of the electorate and voted for Trump 82% to 17% for Harris. A presidential candidate, identifying as a Christian, would have a large voting base. How easy is it for someone to IDENTIFY as a Christian and BLEND in and become like a Christian?

Evangelicals say they support Trump because of his stance against abortion and Transgender Rights. They believe his political platform aligns with their Christian faith. They fully embrace Trump's slogan of Make America Great Again, a time when the family unit mattered, and society's morals were more palatable. Or at least, this is what they say publicly. But many researchers say the same thing that motivates secular people motivate religious people and that is POWER. White Evangelicals are fearful their power is slipping away. How you may ask. The answer is right before your eyes.

Public Religion Research Institute found that America is not only becoming less white, but also less Christian. As we came to the end of the 2010s, Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI, reported that only 42% of Americans identify as white and Christian. Such demographic shifts have produced great trepidation on the part of many white evangelicals. Trump has capitalized on white evangelicals’ fear of losing power and prominence in an increasingly diverse society.

The sheep's clothing Trump put on was NOT Christianity to win the Evangelical vote. Trump clothed himself in the skin of FEAR. He walked among them expressing the same fears the Evangelicals speak about. Let's use ABORTION as an example. The stance against abortion has more to do with halting the LOW birthrate of white babies, than the Bible. If Republicans cared about babies, they would not be slashing Medicaid many mothers and newborns rely on.

Abortion rates have been declining in the United States for decades. In 1981, the abortion rate was 29.3 per 1,000 women aged 15–44. In 2005, it was 19.4 and was at an historic low. A survey of women who obtained an abortion in the United States between June 2021 and July 2022 found that 26 percent were Hispanic, while 33% were white. This statistic shows the distribution of women in the U.S. But this will not increase the number of white babies born. If abortions across the board are illegal, then the Hispanic and Black population will also increase in births. This is significant since in 2022, 39.5% of abortions were performed on non-Hispanic Black women, compared to 31.9% for non-Hispanic White women.

Donald Trump's embrace of the Pro-Life cause is a win for Evangelicals, but their fear of being obsolete remains. So, what else allows the WOLF to walk among the SHEEP. The answer is RACISM.

On the public stage Trump has not hidden his racism towards almost every ethnic group except White people. His desire to mass deport immigrants are sweeping up people who just look Hispanic. His revocation of DEI laws closes the door to many Black people having an opportunity to have high paying jobs. Attacking DEI also affect women who work outside of the home as caregiver, something traditional Christians would like see women returned to. If White Christians don't have the NUMBER to remain relevant, then they must have the POWER at all costs, hence Donald Trump 47th president.

But you may say Trump didn't deceive them, he just gave them what they wanted. But he PRETENDED to be like them, Godly. What or who is a person willing to pretend to be Godly? What kind of person would have no FEAR misrepresenting themselves as Godly knowing it was a lie? The answer to this question is what the REST of us have to FEAR. A person who has no boundaries to what they are willing to do to achieve their OWN power is a major THREAT. I know you're saying I can't say Donald Trump is not a Christian. Are you sure about that because the Bible says differently.

"Ye shall know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:16-20). Fruits, which are a common metaphor in both the Old and New Testaments, represent the outward manifestation of a person's faith, thus their behavior and their works. Evangelicals tell us to OVERLOOK Trump's character and his offensive behavior. Not biblical at all.

Romans 16:17-19, "I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their OWN appetites. By smooth TALK and FLATTERY, they deceive the MINDS of NAIVE people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Trump is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I do not believe he has revealed his TRUE nature yet. We don't know who is under the sheep's skin. With the U.S. no longer siding with the UN and being the leader of the free world, Trump's deception on the American people has not been exposed yet. 

For those who did not vote for Trump, they believe they have not been deceived. They are not as shocked by Trump's actions since being in the White House. But in a sense, we were all fooled. We believed no one would DEFILE the highest office of one of the greatest countries. Yet, here we are. We let our guard down on our freedom and supremacy on the world stage. We didn't believe a WOLF would walk among us without SOMEONE protecting the sheep. We believed, at least, one of the sheep would sound the ALARM for all of the other sheep to protect themselves.

Well, we had sheep sounding the alarm, but other sheep stepped up to PROTECT the wolf. Let's look at another little story, The Scorpion and the Frog, so simple even a child can understand it. It will be my final thoughts about Donald Trump.

• The fable is about a frog who carries a scorpion across a river. The scorpion stings the frog, even though it's against the scorpion's own interests.
• The scorpion explains that he couldn't resist because it was in his nature. 
• The fable teaches us to know someone at their core and make judgments based on that. 
• It also teaches us to be cautious of those who have a history of harmful behavior, as they may be likely to repeat it.