What did Donald Trump do today?
He lied about the Pledge of Allegiance.
Today, Trump said that Democrats had omitted the words "under God" from their recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance during their four-day virtual convention this week.
Trump is losing votes he cannot afford to lose from white evangelical Christians, which is presumably why he told this lie. He recently claimed that Joe Biden, an observant Catholic, would "hurt God." Trump, by contrast, was once openly confused about whether Presbyterians—in theory, his own denomination—were Christians.
The last time Trump was seen near a church was in June, after he sent federal troops to clear a path through peaceful protestors with tear gas so that he could hold a Bible in front of it. The clergy of that church were among the people gassed.
Why does this matter?
- Evangelical Christians might not like the idea that they're supposed to love Donald Trump more than they love the ninth commandment.